


Horsewomen of Pokemon: Bayley

by AttackPlatypus



Series: The Horsewomen of Pokemon [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Professional Wrestling, WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Beckley - Freeform, Coming of Age, Crossover, Friendship, Gen, Growing Pains, Growing Up, Pokemon AU, Teenage Horsewomen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2019-10-31 12:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 47,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17849132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackPlatypus/pseuds/AttackPlatypus
Summary: 14-year-old Bayley Martinez is just beginning her Pokemon journey at the same time as her fellow Horsewomen. What adventures await her?





	1. Chapter 1: New friends and New Beginnings

“Bayley!” the voice drifted out from the house.

 

Bayley Martinez spun around with a guilty look on her face. She didn’t think she’d done anything wrong, or at least couldn’t remember doing so, but whenever her dad shouted she always felt guilty.

 

“Sorry guys gotta go,” she explained ruefully to her companions.

 

“ _Freeeee,”_ one of the several Butterfree that had been hovering around her said in an understanding way. Bayley often spent time in her parent’s backyard feeding, playing with, or generally just communing with the wild Pokemon in the area. She and her father lived on the very edge of Pallet town with a backyard that abutted onto nothing but the vast forests that surrounded Pallet. As such they often had many Pokemon visitors.

 

With an apologetic look, Bayley hurried back toward the house. It was a big day for her after all, the most important day in any young trainers life. Today was the day she got her first Pokemon.

 

Bayley had spent years waiting eagerly for this day. Even from a young age she’d always loved Pokemon and found that they usually trusted her more quickly than with other people. All her musings about what her adult life might look like someday had centered around Pokemon. And now the big day was finally here, the day she could begin her life as a Pokemon trainer.

 

As she burst through the backdoor of the house she almost collided with her father. Eddie Guerrero was a good looking man with dark eyes and short dark hair. He was actually quite famous in Johto and Kalos regions as a former champion of both leagues. But when he’d retired as an active trainer he’d decided to settle in Pallet in search of the quiet life. He’d released almost all his former Pokemon and gotten married.

 

Unfortunately, Bayley’s mother had left the family shortly after her birth leaving Bayley with no memories of her. In fact, the only connection Bayley had to the woman was her last name. It had always puzzled her as a small child why her father had insisted that Bayley be Bayley Martinez and not Bayley Guerrero. Despite her very happy childhood, It had even made her cry on occasion, thinking that her father didn’t think she was good enough.

 

But just a few days ago, in anticipation of her impending journey, Eddie Guerrero had sat his daughter down at their kitchen table and finally told her the truth.

 

“ _Mija…”_ he’d said in his gentle voice “...You’re old enough now where I can explain to you when I never wanted you to have my last name.” Bayley had sat straighter in her chair, trying to appear more grown up as though she felt she had to look the part to deserve his confidence.

 

“OK,” Bayley had said quietly.

 

Eddie had sighed before continuing: “I know that sometimes it probably felt like I wasn’t proud of you or that I didn’t believe in you-”

 

“Dad, no I-” Bayley automatically tried to jump in with a comforting lie, but her father cut her off.

 

“No _mija,_ you did your best to hide it but I knew when you were feeling that way. It broke my heart but I had to wait to tell you until you were old enough to understand. But now that you’re ready to become a trainer it’s time.”

 

Bayley just nodded solemnly, sensing that he role was to be quiet at the moment.

 

“I made sure your last name was Martinez because I wanted you to be free to be you _mija._ You’re an extraordinary young woman now Bayley and you need to be allowed to be that woman, not just Eddie Guerrero’s daughter.”

 

“But I…” Bayley said before trailing off. She wanted nothing more than to be ‘just’ Eddie Guerrero’s daughter. But her father was saying it like it was a mad thing,

 

“I know it’s hard to understand, but out there…” her father waved his hand to encompass the world outside Pallet “...there are many people who won’t see you for anything but your last name. Now I know that you would always have eventually made your own name in the world but I’m your dad and I don’t want it to be any harder than it has to be.”

 

Bayley, who always wore her heart on her sleeve, was finding it hard not to cry at this moment but she held it together for her dad’s sake. “I, understand,” was all she said, in a thick voice.

 

“No, you don’t _mija,_ I know. But someday you will,” Eddie had said with a warm smile.

 

Now here he was, looking down at Bayley with the same warm expression. “Don’t you think you ought to get going _mija?_ Professor Angle’s lab opens in two minutes for the new trainers.”

 

“Two minutes?!” Bayley exclaimed, panic suddenly gripping her. What if she was so late that they didn’t have any more Pokemon for her? She knew intellectually that this wasn’t possible, there were only four trainers getting their new Pokemon this time around and there were always four pokemon available. Nonetheless, Bayley was out of the front door and sprinting toward Professor Angle’s lab before her father could say another word.

 

Bayley had always been a gifted athlete so it didn’t take her that long to reach the lab, it also helped that Pallet simply wasn’t that big. Still, when she arrived it was to find the double front doors propped open. Panic once again flared inside her as she skidded to a halt outside doors. She was covered in dust from the road and her chest was heaving as she looked inside.

 

Forcing herself to take several long breaths she squared her shoulders and stepped inside the lab. She knew where she was going, she’d been planning this day to the most minute detail for years. She’d even worked out how she would stride in and had prepared a small speech. But in the event, all these well-laid plans fled from her brain as she did her best to hurry toward her destination without appearing to do so.

 

When she finally reached the room where the starter pokemon were kept she was greeted by what seemed to be a wrestling match. Bayley recognized the combatants instantly, having grown up alongside them.

 

Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch were on the ground in a tangled mess of limbs and hair. Charlotte was on the bottom where it appeared Becky and had pinned her. The redhead was still sitting on the blonde’s back while reaching desperately up at the Pokeball furthest to the right. Her fingers just barely managed to graze the ball, sending it rolling along the floor.

 

“No!” Becky gasped as she tried to scrabble toward the Pokeball. Unfortunately, in doing this she ended up pressing Charlotte’s face down into the floor. The tall blonde girl let out some muffled exclamation but before Becky could reach the final Pokeball it came to a slow stop. Right at the feet of Sasha.

 

Off to one side Professor Angle, the stocky bald Pokemon researcher, had been shouting at the girls in an attempt to break up the fight but none of them had seemed to be listening. Nonetheless, the whole room fell silent as the ball came to a stop.

 

“Yes!” Sasha said in triumph as she bent down and picked up the Pokeball before pointing it off to off to one side. There was a loud popping noise followed by a rushing sound. A moment later, in a flash of red light, a Pokemon materialized on the floor of the lab. A pokemon with bright orange scales, a tan belly, and a flickering flame at the end of its tail.

 

“ _Charmander!”_ it said happily as it looked around at the group.     

 

“I got Charmander!” Sasha crowed in triumph as she hurried forward and scooped the small lizard into her arms.

 

“That’s not fair!” Charlotte snapped as she finally shoved Becky off her and stood. She was taller than the other girls and usually looked much more dignified than she did now. She was trying but the effect was spoiled by her having to knock the dust off her expensive clothes.

 

“Hey!” Becky protested as she was knocked sideways. Of the other three, Becky was the one Bayley was closest too. She was the daughter of Pallet town’s one and only mechanic and she usually spent her free time with her parents in their garage or working on their inventions. She was wearing the same old duster and welding goggles that she usually wore and was looking decidedly miffed.

 

“Losers take a walk!” Sasha jeered as she skipped out of the room with her new Pokemon. As she passed Bayley in the door she paused to give her a quick sneer before hurrying out of the lab. This temporarily dampened Bayley’s spirits. As little girls, she and Sasha had actually been very close. But when they’d both become teens Sasha had become increasingly obsessed with Pokemon training and her life simply hadn’t had room Bayley any longer. This would have been fine but the change had also been accompanied by a new much colder attitude on Sasha’s part.

 

“Bayley! Welcome, I was worried you might miss the fun entirely,” Angle called over to her. At his words, the other two turned to look at Bayley. Becky was smiling while Charlotte had schooled her face into its customary expression of withdrawn dignity, the effect was spoiled a bit by her still mussed hair.

 

“Fine…” Charlotte said before anyone could speak “...I don’t need a Charmander to succeed.” Marching forward she selected the second Pokeball from the left. “Squirtle gives me the advantage anyway,” she declared grandly. Unlike Sasha, she didn’t release her Pokemon from its ball but instead just marched out of the room with her head high.

 

Becky shot Bayley an awkward look that Bayley was able to quickly interpret. “No go ahead Becky, I was late so you should get to choose first,” Bayley said with an encouraging smile. Becky nodded back with her own weak smile, she looked as though she felt like she might be sick if she opened her mouth.

 

“Thanks,” her friend said distractedly.

 

Walking slowly Becky approached the table with it’s two remaining Pokeballs as though she thought it might explode at any moment, like some of her own less than successful inventions. After hesitating from for several seconds Becky extended a trembling hand toward the right hand Pokeball. A trembling finger made contact with the button on the front and in another popping flash, a Pokemon appeared.

 

“ _Pika!”_ the yellow mouse said, sounding as miffed as Becky had looked earlier.

 

“Ohhhh aren’t you precious!” Becky said as she bent down to try and lift the pokemon up. Bayley wasn’t sure exactly what happened next but there was a sudden blinding flash accompanied by a powerful buzzing sound. By the time Bayley’s eyes had cleared she gasped and hurried over to Becky. Her friend was lying on the floor with a soot-blackened face, groaning softly.

 

“BECKY! Are you alright?” Bayley asked urgently as she shook her friend.

 

“That....was...AWESOME!” Becky cried before she was overcome by a coughing fit. Shaking her head once she added: “You’re quite a dose of fun aren’t you little guy?”

 

“What?” Bayley asked, still stunned.

 

“This little guy will definitely be able to power all my designs!” Becky said enthusiastically as she tried to sit up. She didn’t make it the first time but she got up on the second try with Bayley’s help. Becky then had a short conversation while Bayley stared at the final Pokeball.

 

“Well, that makes things simple for you doesn’t it?” Professor Angle said to Bayley with a smile. “I’m sorry you didn’t get here earlier though Bayley, I would have liked you to have a choice,” he said regretfully. Bayley knew that Professor Angle liked her, she’d spent as much time as she could in the lab over the years, she’d even spent the previous summer working there as a kind of junior assistant.

 

“Oh, this is fine Professor…” Bayley assured him “...I just want a Pokemon, any Pokemon. I know that any of them can be special if you work hard enough with them.” She’d learned this from her father, who’d always told that the right trainer could make even the weakest Pokemon into something extraordinary.

 

“A very admirable attitude…” the professor said as he walked forward and offered Bayley a small red object and a handful of collapsed Pokeballs “...this is your Pokedex, I know you know how to use it.” Bayley did, she’d practiced with one all last summer. “Now, let’s introduce you to Bulbasaur!” Angle said as he tapped the remaining Pokeball.

 

A pop and a flash later Bayley’s Pokemon, her very own Pokemon, appeared on the floor of the lab. From the moment she saw the small frog-like character with a bulb on it’s back, Bayley fell in love.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ the Pokemon declared in its raspy voice. Before it could say anything more Bayley had bent down and scooped it into a hug.

 

“Hi, you! It’s so good to finally meet you! I’m Bayley!” she said as she twisted from side to side holding her Pokemon.

 

She felt Bulbasaur stiffen at first as she picked it up but a moment later she heard the Pokemon say: “ _Bulbaaaa…”_ In a contented hum. Bayley could feel it’s chest vibrating as it purred happily.

 

“You are so cute aren’t you!” she gushed. She was smiling happily until she suddenly felt a sharp tug on side pony. “Oww!” she said turning to look to her side and found herself looking at a vine hovering in midair a few inches from her face. A moment later it began retracting and in a flash, it had vanished into Bulbasaur’s bulb.

 

“Hey! Why did- Oh…” Bayley started to protest before comprehension caught up with her “...not a fan of the ‘cute’ thing huh?” She asked this last bit as she held Bulbasaur at arm's length to look it in the eye.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bulbasaur said before looking to one side huffily.

 

“Oh well...what I MEANT by calling you cute is that you’re so ferocious and...and tough, you know?” Bayley reassured the Pokemon.

 

Bulbasaur looked back at her skeptically but after a few seconds it shrugged, as much as a creature that walked all fours could and gave a nonchalant: “ _Bulbasaur.”_

 

“Damn right buddy,” Bayley said as she set the Pokemon down. She turned to leave before she as suddenly overcome with the powerful sense that when she walked out the doors to the lab she wouldn’t be back for a very long time. She felt her lip quiver and in a flash, she’d turned around and hurried back to Professor Angle. Throwing her arms around his powerful torso she said: “I’ll miss you, professor.”

 

Angle seemed startled at first but eventually patted her awkwardly on the head and said, from somewhere above her: “We both have phones, Bayley.” He didn’t say this unkindly however and a moment later he was returning the hug.

 

Stepping back after a few seconds Bayley wiped at her eye and said: “I know…I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t apologize, Bayley, just go out there, fill out your Pokedex, and be the exceptional trainer I know you will be,” Angle said gently. A moment later Bayley felt a soft nudging against her leg. Looking down she Saw Bulbasaur rubbing its face against her calf.

 

“You’re right buddy, let's go,” Bayley said. They left the lab without a single glance backward. The walk back to her house seemed to take a long time, much longer than usual at least. When the house finally came into view she found her father waiting outside with his one remaining Pokemon: Torterra.

 

Torterra had been her father’s first ever Pokemon, though he’d been a Turtwig when they’d first met. They’d stuck together through all the years and when it had come time for her dad to retire he hadn’t been able to bear separating from his longtime friend. So Bayley had grown up around the huge Pokemon.

 

And yet over all these years, it had never really struck her how much Torterra looked like an enormous version of Bulbasaur. Yet as they approached the house this similarity was driven vividly home to her as Tortrerra clomped forward to nuzzle Bayley’s face.

 

“Hey big guy,” Bayley said as she took Torterra’s face in her hands and stroked his muzzle. Turning to one side she gestured to her Pokemon and said “Hey! I want you to meet my new buddy, Bulbasaur!”

 

Torterra turned away from her to look down at the much smaller Pokemon. Neither Pokemon spoke for several moments. Eventually, it was Torterra that lowered his huge head to rumble: “ _Tortterrrrrrrrrra”._

 

Bulbasaur looked solemnly up at the larger Pokemon for several silent moments before it gave a small nod and said: “ _Bulbasaur.”_

 

The discussion continued for a short while before Torterra gave a low rumble that seemed to last for a very long time. He punctuated this by lowering his head to press it’s snout to Bulbasaur’s.

 

“He likes your new Pokemon _mija,_ and I think he told your Bulbasaur to look after you,” Bayley’s father’s voice suddenly sounded from directly behind. Bayley jumped at this but then smiled as she watched him kneel down and rest a hand on Bulbasaur’s head. “That goes double for me _amigo._ You look after my little girl, OK?” he told the Pokemon seriously.

 

“ _Bulba…”_ Bulbasaur said in an equally serious tone.

 

“He’s a strong one,” Eddie said as he scratched Bulbasaur under the twin.

 

“Bulbasaur is a he?” Bayley asked she hadn’t thought about this until now.

 

“You can tell by his coloring,” her father said with a nod. He stared down at Bulbasaur for a few moment’s longer before he stood and brushed himself off. When he finally turned around Bayley was startled to see moisture in his eyes.

 

“Look at you _mija…”_ he said in a voice that threatened to break at any moment.

 

“ _Papi…”_ Bayley said, knowing the would not be able to stop herself from crying now. She stepped forward and let her father hug her tight. It then hit Bayley that as she began her Pokemon journey, little things like getting hugs from her dad would be the things she missed most. They just held each other for a long time.

 

“Now…” her father finally said, “...get going _mija,_ it’s not going to get easier from here on out.”

 

“Just a little longer,” Bayley said quietly.

 

“No _mija,_ it’s time,” he said as he gently but firmly separated from Bayley. In his absence, Bayley wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She stood like this as her father turned and walked a few feet away to the fence in front of their house. Reaching over it he reached down and hauled up a frame pack. Returning to Bayley he helped her into it and put his hand on her cheek.

 

“Take care of Bulbasaur, and he’ll take care of you,” he advised. All Bayley could do was nod. “I’d head North toward Pewter City first _Mjia_ , if you train Bulbasaur hard you’ll go into that fight with a type advantage. I bet if you hurry you might still catch Becky on her way out of town,” he added.

 

Bayley didn’t trust herself to do more than nod before turned quickly and almost fled down the road away from her home. She forced herself not to cry as she heard Bulbasaur hurrying along beside her.

 

Maybe she would try to catch Becky...


	2. Chapter 2: New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and Bulbasaur journey on toward Viridian City, working to get stronger as they do.

Bayley would probably have been sad to the point of despair if she had been traveling alone.

 

It had been one day since she’d left Pallet town, one day since she’d left the only home she’d ever known. Bayley had always imagined her own Pokemon journey might be some kind of unending fun romp. Adventure following adventure with each ending happily for her. Somehow she’d never considered how much she might miss her home or her dad.

 

Most of all she kicking herself for not have the foresight to ask her best friend, Becky Lynch if the might travel together. At least at first. Now she was here alone walking along route one, with no idea where Becky or anyone else might be. The only thing keeping her spirits up was pokemon walking beside her.

 

Looking down at Bulbasaur she couldn’t help but smile as she asked: “You OK buddy? Want to rest?”

 

“ _Bulba, Bulbasaur,”_ the Pokemon said with a vigorous shake of his head.

 

“That’s the spirit, I’m glad you’re here with me buddy,” Bayley said as she hitched her frame pack higher on her shoulders. She thought for awhile before adding in a musing tone: “I suppose we should be training shouldn’t we?”

 

“ _Bulba,”_ came the affirmative reply from beside her.

 

“Hmm…” Bayley said as she looked around. Spying a group of stones along the road she walked over to them and selected a handful before returning to Bulbasaur. “I’m going to throw these in the air, and you try to hit them with your vines OK?” she asked.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bulbasaur said eagerly as it lowered itself and squared up.

 

“Alright, let's try this…” Bayley said as she heaved the first rock high into the air. With a whirring sound, a vine appeared out of the side of the bulb on Bulbasaur's back. Moving almost too fast to watch it shot upward where, with a cracking sound, it struck the rock and sent it pinwheeling off through the air.

 

“YEAH!” Bayley cried as she punched the air. Bending down she picked up Bulbasaur and hugged him tightly. For his part, Bulbasaur nuzzled her with his snout before she set him down. “Ready to try again?” Bayley asked. Bulbasaur nodded and Bayley prepared to throw another stone.

 

Bayley and Bulbasaur spent an enjoyable two hours working on Bulbasaur's vine whip and razor leaf attacks. It was only their first time and Bayley knew they had a lot of work to do but it was an encouraging start. They got the point where Bulbasaur was able to hit two separate rocks out of the air with his vines, though he couldn’t yet manage this with razor leaf.

 

“Don’t worry about it dude, it was only the first time,” Bayley reassured Bulbasaur as the both sat on the side of a low hill next to the road. She’d found some berries growing just a little ways into the trees one side of the road that she knew were safe for both of them to eat so she’d picked some and brought them back to Bulbasaur. Bayley had her own food but felt that it didn’t make sense for her to use it unless she had to.

 

As she ate Bayley took out her phone and looked at it. It was off, it took some time to walk to Viridian City from Pallet and she wouldn’t have any way to charge it along the way so she’d kept off to preserve the battery in case of emergency. But there was another reason as well.

 

Bayley missed her father terribly. This was natural but it also made her traveling that much harder. She believed she’d acclimate to her new circumstances given time but she still wanted to call him every night. But she was smart enough to know that if she did that, it would only make her adjustment take longer.

 

With a sigh, she put the phone away and finished her lunch.

 

It was just a little past noon so Bayley and Bulbasaur walked for a few more hours before Bayley decided it was time to camp. She was only carrying a small pup tent but it was more than big enough for her and Bulbasaur. By unspoken agreement, Bulbasaur spent almost no time in his Pokeball. Bayley preferred it that way, it made her feel less alone.

 

“Good night Bulbasaur,” Bayley told her Pokemon, who was already half asleep beside her pillow. Turning off her light Bayley fell asleep almost instantly. The next morning she only cracked an eye when she heard an odd kind of rustling outside her tent. It took her a moment to realize what it was that had woken her but when she did her eyes shot open.

 

It was clear to her right away that it wasn’t a person walking around outside her tent. She’d spent too much time outside with her father or on her own not to recognize the footfall of a Pokemon. But which Pokemon was a more interesting question. Moving as slowly and quietly as possible Bayley unzipped her sleeping bag and sat up. Pulling her hair up she looked around and found Bulbasaur, still sleeping beside her pillow.

 

“Bulbasaur!” Bayley whispered urgently.

 

“ _Bulbaaaa,”_ her Pokemon groaned as he turned his head away from Bayley.

 

“Bulbasaur, I need you!” Bayley hissed. When this got no response, Bayley scowled and decided she’d look for herself. Tugging on her shoes she emerged from the tent in nothing but her shorts and tank top. The morning was cool, dew lay on the grass around her and there was a light mist hovering over the world.

 

Bayley looked around for the sound of the noise she’d heard, the search didn’t take long. Along the far edge of the clearing where she’d pitched her tent, she saw a small bird hopping along through the brush. Not just any bird though, a Pidgey.

 

Bayley had spent many an afternoon feeding wild Pidgey’s behind her house. It had gotten to the point where all she had to do was enter the trees and one or two would flutter down to wait on the lowest branches. For a moment she entertained the idea that this might be one of those same Pokemon.

 

“Hello there,” she said with a smile. The Pidgey’s head shot around to look at her at this, its eyes wary. “It’s OK!...” she reassured it quickly as she held up her hands “...I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

“ _Pidgey?”_ the Pokemon answered, still obviously wary but it’s head had cocked to one side now.

 

“Here, are you hungry?” Bayley asked as she reached back into the tent and grabbed one of her Pokemon treats from her bag. Breaking it in half she tossed one part toward the Pidgey and then sat down in front of her tent.

 

“ _Pidg,”_ Pidgey said cautiously as it hopped forward and then back several times, eyeing up the snack. Then, in a flash, it darted forward snatched up the treat in its beak and darted back to the edge of the clearing. Bayley smiled.

 

“Pretty good huh?” she asked as she watched the Pokemon with interest. Bayley loved Pokemon, all Pokemon. She found them endlessly fascinating. It didn’t matter how rare or common, strong or weak, or anything else they were. She just liked being around them. “Want this?” Bayley asked as she lifted the treat and dropped it on the ground in front of her.

 

Pidgey looked very skeptical about this. It then looked back into the foliage, clearly wondering if it would be more prudent just to leave. But it had devoured the other half of the treat and was clearly tempted. Bayley didn’t push the Pokemon, she didn’t even speak. She just waited patiently as Pidgey debated.

 

The process was slow, involving a lot of false starts and doubling back, but eventually, Pidgey had made it’s way over to the treat. With a wary eye on Bayley, it bent down and gobbled up the snack in front of it before taking a cautious hop backward.

 

“There you go! I’m glad you liked it,” Bayley said, still beaming. Pidgey seemed to consider this for a moment before it gave a contented hoot.

 

“ _Pidgey,”_ it said as it walked up to Bayley and allowed her to stroke it’s head.

 

“It’s always nice to have company at breakfast right?” Bayley asked jokingly.

 

“ _Pidgey, Pidgeyyyy, Pi,”_ the Pokemon cooed.

 

“Well said my dude,” Bayley laughed. She was turning to reach for her pack again when she saw Bulbasaur standing warily in the tent flap. “Hey buddy, come meet our new friend,” she told the Pokemon. She didn’t actually give him a choice as she scooped the Pokemon up and set him in her lap.

 

“ _Bulbasaur,”_ Bulbasaur said as it regarded Pidgey solemnly. For its part, Pidgey was looking cautious again though it didn’t flee.

 

“Be nice Bulbasaur, we’re all friends here,” Bayley said she leaned to one side and reached into the tent again. She brought another two treats out and offered one to Bulbasaur and one to Pidgey. Both Pokemon ate greedily. Bayley grabbed her own meal, a breakfast bar, and they ate happily for a while. When it had finished its treat Pidgey nipped Bayley’s hand in an affectionate way before hopping to the edge of the clearing and then taking flight into the trees.

 

“ _Bulba,”_ Bulbasaur said from beside Bayley.

 

“Yeah, I’ll miss Pidgey too, but I’m sure we’ll see other Pokemon soon,” Bayley said happily. The time with the Pidgey had really energized her and now she was eager to begin their day of travel. Using the damp grass to wash her hands she began the process of packing up her camp. Bulbasaur helped and in less than ten minutes they were on their way.

 

The mist had all been burned away by the sun when they returned to the road. Smiling happily as the sunlight fell on her face Bayley bent down to grab several stones from the road and then began walking.

 

“Ready?” she asked Bulbasaur as she hefted the rock for emphasis.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ her Pokemon said eagerly.

 

As they walked Bayley kept Bulbasaur busy knocking stones or sticks out of the air with his vines and leaves. They didn’t meet anyone for most of the morning, not surprising really given how remote this part of route one was. But around noon they encountered a group of trainers sitting at a pair of picnic tables beside the road.

 

“Hello!” she said to a boy and girl who were sitting together at one the tables as she sat down.

 

“Hi! Coolllll a Bulbasaur!” the girl said as she saw Bulbasaur walking beside Bayley.

 

“Yeah! He’s my buddy,” Bayley said as she sat down heavily, glad to get off her feet.

 

“Hang on, there’s someone he should meet!” the girl said excitedly as she dug in her bag before producing a Pokeball. One popping flash later and a second Bulbasaur appeared on the ground next to Bayley’s own.

 

“ _Bulbasaur!”_ it declared.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bayley’s Bulbasaur said. The two Pokemon eyed each other warily for a few moments before Bayley’s Bulbasaur leaned forward and sniffed the other experimentally.

 

“I’m Layla by the way,” the other girl said as she offered her hand to Bayley.

 

“Bayley,” she said happily. She then looked at the boy sitting at the table but realized that he hadn’t actually been sitting with the other girl. He had headphones in and was staring at his phone, apparently unaware anyone else had arrived.

 

“He hasn’t said anything since I’ve been here,” Layla said with a shrug.

 

“Oh...OK,” Bayley said, somewhat uncomfortable having a conversation while the boy sat silently a few seats away.

 

“So where are you from?” Layla asked, apparently not sharing Bayley’s concern.

 

“Pallet, I just left two days actually,” Bayley explained before she drank some of her water.

 

“I’ve been a trainer for a while, just came down here hoping to challenge the Gym in Viridian but the Gym Leader is taking some time off I guess,” Layla said with a shrug.

 

“Really?” Bayley asked, shocked. It was odd for Gym Leaders to not be taking on challenges.

 

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened but I guess some new trainer challenged them and almost won! The match was so intense that the Gym Leader is letting his Pokemon rest for a few days. Imagine that! Some new trainer making Samoa Joe take time off!” Layla said, in a voice full of awe.

 

“Yeah…” Bayley said, just as shocked as Layla. Not all trainers began their journey’s in Pallet of course, but for those that did the Viridian Gym was usually out of reach for them when they first arrived. Few could train their Pokemon hard enough in the short time between Pallet and Viridian to even stand a chance against a real Gym Leader. The mystery trainer must have been from somewhere else she decided.

 

Bayley enjoyed talking with Layla over lunch. The other girl was a few years older than her but it was nice to have anyone to talk to, and Layla was very friendly. So it was with some regret that Bayley bid goodbye to her after their meal. Layla was heading south toward Pallet where she intended to try and catch a Ferry to Cinnabar Island. So they exchanged numbers and went their separate ways.

 

“Want to try something different instead of the rocks this afternoon?” Bayley asked Bulbasaur after they’d walked for a mile or so.

 

“ _Bulba!”_

 

“Hmm…I have an idea then…” Bayley said as she disappeared into the trees. She came back a few moments later grunting under the weight of a large rock she’d found. Letting it drop with a thud on the road, she had to take a few deep breaths before she could speak again. “Wrap this up in your vines buddy, you call pull it along and I’ll find one to carry in my hands,” Bayley suggested, trying to sound enthusiastic but still out of breath.

 

Bulbasaur looked at the rock for a time before he nodded slowly. His vines extended and wrapped securely around the stone before he began dragging it along the road. He didn’t seem to be struggling, but that was good. Bayley meant for this training to continue for a while.

 

As they walked Bayley almost regretted her decision to carry her own rock. Her arms were getting pretty tired and she knew she had a long walk in front of her still. But she knew it was the right thing to do. If she was going to ask Bulbasaur to do something, she needed to be willing to try it as well.

 

Nonetheless, she was quite grateful to set the rock down later in the afternoon. She only did this because she’d realized something about her Pokemon as they’d walked. Bulbasaur had the heart of a champion and would never back down from a challenge. He simply would not let himself be the first one to ask to stop. But Bayley was the trainer and she had to be the one who knew when to call it quits. Bulbasaur was trying to hide it but he was sweating and his legs seemed to be shaking slightly from the effort of lugging the rock along.

 

“Great job Bulbasaur,” Bayley said tiredly, her arms singing with relief at finally being able to set the rock down.

 

“ _Bulbaaaa,”_ Bulbasaur said just as eagerly as Bayley.

 

“You want to go back in the Pokeball for a while?” she asked him with a tired smile. For once, Bulbasaur nodded and Bayley took out his Pokeball. As he vanished in a flash of red light, it was with a grateful expression. “Take it easy,” Bayley said quietly as she found herself alone.

 

She decided she’d try to put in a few more miles before finding a place to camp. It was now that she regretted not having her phone more than ever. She could have called someone or just listened to some music. Instead, she just hummed softly to herself.

 

When the sun began to set noticeably Bayley ducked off the road and found another suitable clearing. She wasn’t fully paying attention, she was so tired she just thinking about bed, and thus didn’t notice the Pokemon that were already there. Not until she heard the low growl.

 

“ _Rrrrraticate_!” it said causing Bayley to jump. Her head snapped up and there across the clearing, obscured in shadow but still visible, stood a massive rat. She also caught sight of the purple and white hindquarters of several Rattata vanishing into the brush. She’d clearly just blundered into the group's territory.

 

As much as she loved Pokemon, Bayley was acutely aware of how dangerous they could be. Her father had made sure of this. She’d also read voraciously on the subject. SHe knew that this Raticate was the leader of the group she’d just seen and that it now saw her as a threat.

 

“Easy...easy...I’m backing away…” Bayley said, trying to force herself to sound calm but not entirely succeeding.

 

“ _Rrrrrraticate! Raticate!_ ” the large rat hissed as it scurried a few steps forward. Bayley’s fear spiked at this. She knew if she turned and ran the Pokemon would easily catch her. But she also knew how little defense she actually had. She thought about Bulbasaur in his Pokeball, but not only was he exhausted but she’d stupidly stored the ball in her backpack.

 

“I’m...I’m...I’m just trying to leave,” Bayley said apprehensively. Her only desperate plan was to try and shrug off her pack and jump for one of the lower hanging branches nearby. But this would not only abandon her gear to the Raticate and its fangs but would also leave her trapped.

 

“ _Rrrrrrr,”_ the Raticate said as it lowered itself to the ground, clearly preparing to spring.

 

“No! Ahhhh-” Bayley said as she futilely tried to shield herself with her arms. Just then her entire world went dark.

 

This wasn’t entirely accurate, it was more like her vision was suddenly obscured by a strong wind that came up out of nowhere and that also kicked up a huge amount of dirt and sand. Bayley had to keep her arms over her eyes now to protect them from the cloud.

 

“ _Pidgeyyyyyyyyyyy,”_ came a high cry from somewhere above her.

 

“Pidgey?” Bayley asked, or tried to but then ended up coughing on the choking dust. Out of reflex, she retreated backward and after a few steps, she found herself clear of the gusting sand.

 

Spinning back to face the direction she’d come she saw that it was indeed a Pidgey, presumably the one she’d encountered earlier in the day. The bird was flapping hard to keep itself hovering in mid-air, it was also using these flaps to kick up the cloud Bayley had just escaped.

 

As she watched Pidgey stopped flapping furiously and shot forward with nearly invisible speed. There was a loud thunking sound and as the cloud cleared she saw Raticate being sent tumbling backward. When Pidgey reappeared she watched in awe as it suddenly seemed to vanish from sight once more. Only the sound of two more collisions told Bayley it was still there.

 

Raticate had clearly been caught off guard and was sent flying once more. Before it could recover Pidgey soared over the clearing and then dove straight down, beak extended like a spear point. This time when it collided with the large rat, Raticate went careening into a large rock.

 

“Pidgey, enough!” Bayley called, Raticate had hit its head on the rock. Forgetting their confrontation from just seconds before, Bayley was worried for the Pokemon.

 

“ _Pidg?”_ the flying Pokemon asked her, clearly surprised.

 

“You got it! Just...just watch my back OK?” she asked the bird, without waiting for an answer she hurried into the clearing and over to the Raticate. Its eyes were closed but it was it was whimpering as it lay beside the rock. Bayley could see a large gash on its forehead. “Oh no,” she whispered as she scrambled back for her pack and then returned to the injured Pokemon. As she opened her pack she withdrew Bulbasaur’s Pokeball and pressed the release.

 

“ _Bulbaaaa,”_ came the tired but game voice from behind her.

 

“Bulbasaur, buddy, I’m sorry and I know you’re tired but you and Pidgey need to help me OK?” Bayley said urgently as she drew supplies out from her pack.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bulbasaur said, in a much stronger voice.

 

“ _Pidgey!”_ came a second reply.

 

“Ok! Pidgey, can you fly up high and see if there is anyone else nearby or how far we are from Viridian City’s Pokecenter?” Bayley asked, not looking up from her work.

 

“ _Pidgey!”_ came the answer before there was the sound of flapping wings.

 

“Bulbasaur, I’m going to try and take care of Raticate but its family is still around here and they might not understand so if they show up I need you to keep me safe. I know you’re tired but I’m counting on your buddy!” Bayley said, turning to look at her friend.

 

Bulbasaur’s eyes narrowed as he set his face and said: “ _Bulbasaur!”_

 

“Thanks, buddy…” Bayley said as she gave his head a quick pat before she returned to Raticate. The cut looked to be deep but Bayley hoped she wouldn’t have to try and sew him up. She’d never actually done this even though her dad had explained how.

 

Putting on some gloves and taking some antiseptic pads from her first aid kit, Bayley did her best to clean Raticate’s wound. She was glad that the Pokemon seemed to be barely conscience as it probably saved her being clawed and bit. Once she’d finished this she bagged the used pads and withdrew one of her precious potion bottles. She wasn’t sure exactly how much would be needed for a wound like this so she sprayed Raticate’s cut three times, one was usually enough for most minor wounds, before putting it away.

 

Raticate seemed to be coming to because it hissed gently and shied away from the potion. Not wanting to still be holding the Pokemon when it awoke Bayley worked as fast as she could to gauze and bandage it’s wound. She just had time to clear up her mess and scramble away before Raticate’s eyes shot up.

 

“ _RRRRRRRRRRRR,”_ it said as it scrambled up to all fours. It’s wide angry eyes roved around until it found Bayley. Its eyes narrowed and it began to growl again but before Bulbasaur jumped between them.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ he growled.

 

“ _Raticateeeeeeee,”_ the larger Pokemon snarled. But Bulbasaur refused to back down.

 

“ _Bulba! BULBA BULBA! Bulbasaur!”_ Bulbasaur growled right back. Bayley obviously couldn’t understand what was being said but she got the sense that Bulbasaur was explaining what she’d just done.

 

“I’m sorry you got hurt Raticate! But I really only wanted to help!” Bayley said. Raticate didn’t seem convinced but it was at that point that Pidgey returned.

 

“ _Pidgeyyyyyyy,”_ the Pokemon cried as it landed on top of Bulbasaur’s bulb. Even despite the seriousness of the situation, Bayley noted that Bulbasaur shot the bird an annoyed look over its shoulder before turning back to Raticate.

 

The debate raged for a few moments but eventually, the Raticate seemed to relax a little. It gave a low growl and then looked up at Bayley to give an irritable kind of jerky nod before scurrying off into the underbrush. Bayley gaped after it for a while before she smiled ruefully.

 

“Thanks, guys, both of you,” Bayley said, looking first at Bulbasaur and then at Pidgey.

 

“ _Bulba,”_ Bulbasaur said happily.

 

“ _Pidgey!”_ Pidgey crowed happily. A moment later it was forced to flap up into the air as Bulbasaur gave it’s bulb an angry shake to dislodge the bird from it’s back.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bulbasaur said angrily.

 

“Hey! Easy you two! Bulbasaur, Pidgey saved me so be nice!” Bayley admonished her friend.

 

 _“Bulba…”_ Bulbasaur answered grudgingly.

 

“Pidgey, do you want to stay with us?” Bayley asked eagerly. The Pokemon seemed to think about this but then gave a quick nod before settling back on Bulbasaur’s back.

 

“Let’s get camp up, and then I’ll make us dinner,” Bayley said as she shrugged off her pack.

 

Unbeknownst to Bayley and her Pokemon, they were being watched. Far back in the trees, a pair of eyes were watching as Bayley kindled her fire and set about making dinner. The Pokemon was hovering a few feet off the ground behind a large tree, it’s bright blue eyes shining. Even in the twilight, it’s pearlescent white fur seemed to glow.

 

It had seen Bayley care for the Raticate, and it was intrigued. The human girl seemed to genuinely care for the injured Pokemon, despite the fact that it had attacked her moment’s before. It had been a long time since it had seen anyone with a heart like that. For now, it would continue to watch...and hope.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two Chapters in and I am in LOVE with this with this AU, it's such a refreshing take on the Horsewomen.
> 
> I hope you liked reading this chapter, I had serious fun writing it. I would be so honored if you would consider sharing your thoughts in the comments or leaving a kudo. If you want to make sure you don't miss anything, please consider bookmarking!
> 
> What did you guys think of today's chapter? Bayley really seems to have a special affinity with Pokemon, doesn't she? Bulbasaur also seems to have a fighters heart right? Who was watching Becky?


	3. Chapter 3: Strange Occurences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley continues her journey onto Viridian City with Bulbasaur and Pidgey. Along the way, they get some training in and even win their first battle. But after this ends badly, Bayley is confronted with a crisis the moment she reaches her destination.

Bayley Martinez had an interesting conundrum on her hands. She wasn’t entirely sure how many Pokemon she had, one or two.

 

Since leaving Pallet Town with Bulbasaur Bayley had been training hard alongside her new friend. But this training hadn’t really had any specific aim in mind, it was just general self-improvement. She certainly hadn’t been training with the idea of catching a Pokemon or more than one. That would come later, or so she’d assumed.

 

But now, they’d been joined by a new friend: Pidgey. Which was the source of Bayley’s confusion. Bayley hadn’t actually ‘caught’ Pidgey. She’d just fed the bird Pokemon one morning and it had then shown up again when Bayley was in danger from a wild Raticate. Since then, Pidgey had stayed with them, however.

 

Usually preferring to ride perched on Bulbasaur’s bulb, to the latter's intense annoyance, it seemed perfectly content simply to be with Bayley and her Pokemon. Bayley appreciated this, was even touched by it, but she wasn’t sure where this left them standing. Despite being the daughter of a multi-time Pokemon league champion, somehow this situation had never come up in her many conversations with her dad.

 

Bayley was walking along the road to Viridian CIty, as she had been for two days. If one was hurrying the trip could be made in under one, though that would involve some serious hustle. Bayley, who was in no particular hurry, had instead opted to spend the time on her leisurely journey bonding with Bulbasaur and now Pidgey.

 

But she felt she had to ask.

 

“Umm, Pidgey?” she asked the Pokemon, who was perched on Bulbasaur’s back once more.

 

“ _Pidgey?”_ the bird tweeted back at her.

 

“I have two questions for you if you don’t mind?”

 

“ _Pidgey,”_ this time the word had a definite undertone of ‘go ahead’.

 

“So...first and I’m sorry this is so awkward, but...ah...are you a male or female”

 

“ _Pidgey, Pidgey, Pidgeyyyyyy,”_

 

Bayley frowned, and then an idea occurred to her. “One Pidgey for male, two for female,” Bayley suggested.

 

“ _Pidgey Pidgey,”_ the bird Pokemon didn’t seem annoyed or offended by the question if anything she seemed amused.

 

“Oh, well great! Nice to have another girl around,” Bayley laughed.

 

 _“Bulbasaur…”_ came the low half sarcastic and half indignant growl from below and to the side of her.

 

“Sorry buddy, you know I love you,” Bayley teased.

 

“ _Bulba…”_ came the only slightly mollified response.

 

Turning her attention back to the other Pokemon present Bayley asked her second question: “Umm Pidgey, not to pressure you or anything but...are you my Pokemon now?”

 

Pidgey seemed to have to think about this for a long time. Silence descended for several minutes until Pidgey turned it’s head to look back at Bayley and gave an affirmative sounding warble.

 

Happiness welled up inside Bayley at this until her smile had spread across her entire face. Unable to contain herself she jumped and punched the air as she said: “Awww yes!”

 

“ _Pidgey!”_

 

 _“Bulbasaur!”_ came the two happy responses.

 

“Careful, Bulbasaur, anyone might start thinking you’re happy to have Pidgey around,” Bayley told him with a wink.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ came the started response before Bulbasaur set his face into a resolutely grumpy expression and looked away.

 

“I know, how about we get some training in?” Bayley suggested to her Pokemon. Her TWO Pokemon, the thought made her smile. When she got two nods she thought for awhile and then an idea occurred to her. She searched around for a few moments and grabbed up a handful of stones like she’d been using to train Bulbasaur the day before.

 

“Alright Pidgey, take two of these and fly up high. Get moving around and when I say go you drop one. Bulbasaur, you’re going to try to hit with a vine. Got it you two?” she asked. Both Pokemon nodded and off they went.

 

At first, this newer, and more difficult, form of training was enough to frustrate Bulbasaur. He was very competitive and seemed to detest losing at anything. The first few times Bayley called for Pidgey to drop one of its stones Bulbasaur wasn’t able to hit them before they hit the ground.

 

“ _Bulbaaaa,”_ he growled angrily. Bayley guessed that now would be a very bad time to try and pat his head or comfort him. So she simply stood by and told Pidgey to drop another rock. It took several more attempts but eventually, Bulbasaur was able to swat a stone out of the air. “ _BULBA!”_ he crowed happily, turning to Bayley with a wide grin.

 

“Hmm, not bad,” Bayley said, pretending to be thinking deeply. But then raised an eyebrow at Bulbasaur and sai, in a challenging tone: “I bet you can’t do it again, and then another time. You know what, I’ll bet you two Poke treats against two of the next berries we find that you can’t pull off a hat trick.”

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bulbasaur growled, clearing accepting the challenge. But then it’s face fell and it asked “ _Bulba”_ in a curious tone.

 

Guessing the reason for his confusion Bayley explained: “A hat trick is a hockey term, it means scoring three goals in one game. For you, it means hitting three rocks that Pidgey drops in a row...not that I’m worried.”

 

This last challenging remark made Bulbasaur narrow his eyes. Smiling privately, Bayley handed two rocks to Pidgey and waved her up into the air. But not before whispering “make these extra tough.”

 

“ _Pidgey,”_ the Pokemon acknowledged with a wink of its own before it shot skyward. This time it only dropped its first rock after it had performed a high-speed loop de loop, sending the stone soaring off at an odd angle. There was a sudden whirling noise and with an audible crack, Bulbasaur swatted this stone too.

 

“Eh, beginners luck,” Bayley taunted, which made Bulbasaur growl even lower.

 

“This time I won’t be announcing when Pidgey is going to drop the stone, she’ll make that call on her own!” Bayley shouted, more for Pidgey’s benefit than Bulbasaur’s. It must have heard however because the bird began weaving a dizzying pattern in the sky above them, one that was impossible to predict. When even Bayley was getting dizzy, Pidgey dropped the stone.

 

‘CRACK’

 

Bayley didn’t even see where this stone landed, that was how hard Bulbasaur had hit it. Beaming she hurried over to her Pokemon, scooped him up, and hugged him tightly. “That’s my boy! Way to go Bulbasaur!” she squealed in happiness. Bulbasaur attempted to appear nonchalant for a few moments, but he too couldn’t keep from smiling.

 

“ _Bulba,”_ he said happily.

 

“And good job to you too Pidgey!” Bayley told the bird as she rejoined them. She set Bulbasaur down and hugged Pidgey too. Then she looked at them both and suggested: “Want to go again?”

 

Both of her Pokemon seemed to enjoy this kind of training, and Bayley suspected they were both benefiting as well. Bulbasaur got to continue practicing with his leaves and vines while Pidgey worked on precision flying. They stayed at it for over two hours before Bayley called a halt. They really did have to get onto the road. But before they did they each picked up a stone to carry along the way, Pidgey held it in her talons.

 

Bayley estimated that they probably covered half the remaining distance to Viridian before they stopped for lunch. Then, as per her bet, she handed out a double portion of treats to Bulbasaur. But this still worked out well for Pidgey since it got all of the berries Bulbasaur would usually have eaten.

 

As they ate, sitting on the side of the road, Bayley heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Looking down the trail Bayley saw a boy with dark hair somewhat pale skin approaching. He was looking down as he walked so he didn’t see Bayley or her Pokemon. Bayley frowned, somehow she thought she knew the boy from somewhere.

 

“Hi, there!” she said as he passed within ten feet of them, apparently still unaware of there presence. He must not have been because jumped so high at this that Bayley’s eyebrows rose in admiration.

 

“Uh, I...umm...hi,’ he said, sounding as though he’d never heard a greeting before and was unsure how to respond.

 

“Want to join us?” Bayley asked in a friendly tone, waving toward a bare patch of grass next to them.

 

“Uh…” he was clearly trying to think of a polite way to refuse. Bayley wasn’t bothered, she was perfectly happy eating with her Pokemon, but she didn’t like for people to be uncomfortable.

 

“Hey, do we know each other?” she asked, mostly to try and put him at easy but she was also a little curious.

 

“I was sitting at the table yesterday while you talked to that other girl,” the boy said plainly. Bayley blinked, that was it. Now she remembered him, but he’d been staring down at this phone the whole time they’d been at the same table which explained why she hadn’t really retained much about his features.

 

“Oh, I thought you weren’t paying attention then,” Bayley said jokingly.

 

“I wasn’t…” the boy said. Bayley blinked again at this remark. While potentially rude, and definitely off-putting, Bayley got no sense of malice from the boy. It was as though he were simply reporting facts about something rather than how he’d felt at the time. Before Bayley could formulate any sort of response however his eyes had fallen on her Pokemon and he asked: “Are those your Pokemon?”

 

Bayley found the sudden change of subject a little disconcerting but she managed a friendly tone as she said: “Sure are.”

 

The boy seemed to be thinking about something so he didn’t answer her right away, another perplexing reaction. This boy reminded Bayley of her best friend, Becky Lynch, in that interacting with him seemed to involve a lot of awkwardness. But whereas Becky was high energy and friendly, this boy seemed to be...studying her?

 

“I have a Pokemon too,” he finally said, apparently not feeling that this statement needed any kind of buttressing.

 

“Yeah, I...I saw the ball,” Bayley said, pointing to the Pokeball at his waist. For the second time in this strange conversation, the boy looked dumbfounded. Bayley could see him trying to work something out before he nodded to himself and added: “Would you like to see it?”

 

“Oh…” Bayley said, surprised because she wasn’t sure why this would have been hard for him to come up with “...sure.” There was the usual popping flash of a Pokeball being opened and a moment later a Pokemon appeared in front of her.

 

“ _Magnemite,”_ it droned in a voice that sounded like buzzing.

 

“Oh!” Bayley said excitedly as she pointed her Pokedex at the newcomer. “ _Magnemite…”_ small computerized voice said from her Pokedex “... _The Magnet Pokemon. It_ _uses anti-gravity to stay suspended. It appears without warning and uses Thunder Wave and similar moves.”_

 

“Magnemite is my first Pokemon,” the boy explained, suddenly awkward again.

 

“That’s so cool, mine was Bulbasaur,” Bayley exclaimed. Then she remembered her manners and said: “I’m Bayley by the way, Bayley Martinez.”

 

“TJ Perkins…” the boy answered, seemingly relieved. Bayley wondered if he’d been trying to think of a way to introduce himself. Bayley had never met someone who acted as TJ did before. It was as though he had something he wanted to say but didn’t know how to say it. She was about to ask about this when they suddenly heard voices further up the road.

 

“Hey! There he is again!” a girls voice shouted. Bayley turned to see four girls on the road. All were in at least one pink garment and all seemed to be wearing makeup. Though Bayley wasn’t really expert enough to know this, having never done so herself. She didn’t have long to contemplate this as she noticed that TJ had stiffened as though anticipating a hard blow.

 

“Oh look, he has his dork little Pokemon out again,” another one of the girls said, this one was much taller than the others and had golden blonde hair.

 

“He even found a girl to look at it,” a third said, unlike the others, she had brunette hair about the same color as Bayleys. For some reason, all the girls seemed to think this very funny as they devolved into a fit of giggles. Bayley looked over to see what TJ would do and was started to see that he was looking down at his shoes. His expression made clear that he wished he was anywhere else at the moment.

 

“Hey, you!...” the fourth girl said, obviously speaking to Bayley “...do you like have SUPER low self-esteem or something? Why else would any woman spend time with that nerd?”

 

Bayley’s eyes narrowed as she shot to her feet. Bayley was an easy going person and diplomat by nature. She preferred to find ways for two people to compromise and work together on a problem rather than submitting to a zero-sum situation. But one thing that would ALWAYS rouse her to anger was bullying. It didn’t matter if she was the target either if she saw it she confronted it. Her father had referred to it as her ‘Latina Heat’ with mixed frustration and pride.  

 

“Hey! Why do you think you can talk to me or TJ like that?” she demanded.

 

“Aww, is someone standing up for her man? Well, I guess we know who wears the pants in that ‘relationship’” the tallest girl joked.

 

“Hey! If you’re going to make snotty comments why don’t you  come over here and say them to my face!” Bayley snapped.

 

“Oh, sweetie, you’re not worth our time,” the first girl, who seemed to be the leader, said in a falsely sweet voice. Bayley gritted her teeth, it was like dealing with four Charlotte’s all at once. Then she saw that all the girls were wearing Pokeballs on the waist of their skirts.

 

“That sounds like something a whiny little Princess would say…” Bayley challenged “...Are you going to have to wait until your Prince comes along to save you? Or are you woman enough to challenge me to a Poke battle!”

 

“Uh yeah, not sure if whatever hillbilly turnip school you just rolled in from honey, but there are four of us and one of you,” the leader said condescendingly.

 

“TJ will battle with me!” Bayley retorted hotly, not really thinking about she was saying in her anger. Of course, the round chorus of laughter that greeted this remark was enough to make her even angrier.

 

“I will?” TJ squeaked next to her, his voice breaking. Bayley wanted to roll her eyes at this response, given in front of their potential opponents, but she didn’t. Instead, she just glared at the group of girls.

 

“Alright sweetie, if that's what you want then let the beautiful people show you how real trainers, and ladies, act,” their leader smirked.

 

“All I see are a bunch of barbie doll brats!” Bayley responded angrily.

 

“Lacey, Madison, take care of these two, they’re already boring me,” the leader said as she faked a yawn. At this, the brunette and the tall girl stepped forward with nasty grins on their faces. Each reaching for the Pokeball at their waist.

 

“I’ll try not to damage your fake hair!” Bayley snapped. She wasn’t entirely sure what this meant but she’d seen it on a TV show once. To her mild surprise, it really seemed to annoy the other girls. Turning her to head to one side she hissed: “TJ! Get Magnemite in there!”

 

“But I...but-” TJ stammered. But Bayley rounded on him.

 

“Listen TJ, if you don’t stand up to them they will never stop bullying you! So let’s show these little brats once and for all!” Bayley told him, trying to shock him into action.

 

“OK…” he said in a tiny voice that did nothing to increase Bayley’s confidence in him as a battle partner. But she’d create this situation, how she had to see it through.

 

“Ready to see a real Pokemon?” Lacey sneered. Without waiting for a response she and her friend, Madison, through their Pokeballs. “Go! Horsea!” Lacey shouted.

 

“Go! Meowth!” the girl named Madison shouted beside her. There were two loud flashes and a moment later two Pokemon appeared on the road. One looked like a tiny blue seahorse with a large snout and the other a cat with a golden charm on its forehead.

 

_“Horrrrrsea!”_

 

_“Meowth!”_

 

Bayley blinked in surprise at this. She knew she’d been uniquely lucky in being able to grow up with a father who knew so much about Pokemon. But she’d always assumed that even new trainers would know the basics. Throwing out a water type and a normal type against TJ’s Magnemite, an electric type, was foolish. That was ignoring the fact that Bulbasaur would have a type advantage over the Horsea as well.

 

Oh well, maybe she could teach them something more than manners.

 

“Bulbasaur, are you ready pal?” Bayley asked, not looking away from her opponents.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ came the eager reply as Bulbasaur hopped in front of her.

 

“Magnemite? Umm...I guess...can you go out there?” TJ said beside her. The urge to roll her eyes was almost overwhelming now but Bayley forced herself to be encouraging.

 

“Come on TJ, we got this!” she said as she watched Magnemite float out to join Bulbasaur. She then had to grit her teeth against a storm of laughter from the other girls.

 

“Aww look, a frog with a plant on its butt and a toy,” the leader of the girls said.

 

“I know, it will be SO embarrassing when they beat you!” Bayley said, grinning now. She might not be someone who was quick to pick a fight. But she was still her father’s daughter, and when it was on she loved the challenge.

 

“That’s enough from the fashion disaster…” Lacey said before she pointed shouting: “Horsea! Water Gun! Hit the frog!”

 

“ _Horseaaaaaaa!”_ Her pokemon cried before sending a concentrated blast of water out from its snout directly at Bulbasaur. Bayley actually facepalmed at this.

 

“Oh my god,” she said as the water hit Bulbasaur who actually seemed to enjoy it.

 

“Hey! What’s your problem!” Lacey shouted at her.

 

“I don’t know if they covered this in your makeup tutorials but Bulbasaur is GRASS type Pokemon! What do they put on grass and other plants to make them grow?” Bayley said exasperatedly. This feeling increased when all she got were blank looks. “Never mind,” she said before looking down at Bulbasaur and saying: “Bulbasaur! Show them how a real Pokemon battles! Hit Meowth with a top-notch tackle!”

 

“ _Bulba!”_ Bulbasaur cried as it began to streak forward at full speed.

 

“Meowth!” Madison shouted in concern, though Bayley wondered why she didn’t tell her Pokemon to dodge. But a second later it was too late, Bulbasaur slammed into the cat Pokemon with enormous force sending it bouncing backward.

 

“You little bitch!...” Madison shouted as she stamped her foot “...Meowth! Counterattack with fury swipes!” There was a pause while nothing happened. “Meowth?” Madison asked as she turned to see her Pokemon still laying on it’s back, clearly out for the fight.

 

“TJ! You’re up!” Bayley cried, sensing the thrill of a victory within reach.

 

“Umm…” came the mumbled response. Bayley’s shoulder sagged, TJ was proving very hard to motivate.

 

“TJ! Magnemite has a type advantage over Horsea! Just use ANY electric attack and we’ll win!” Bayley told him through gritted teeth, hoping her voice wouldn’t carry.

 

“Oh, ah...Magnemite? Use...use...thunderwave?” TJ sounded as though he was entirely unsure about his choice. Still, Magnemite was game and it hovered up into the air in front of its trainer.

 

“ _Magnemite!”_ it buzzed loudly. Bayley, anticipating a display of raw electrical power, was chagrined when a feeble stream of sparks spat toward Horsea. The only noticeable effect was to make Horsea flinch. Even Lacey and her friends seemed stunned, for once. None of them said anything for a few moments before they all burst into laughter. Bayley was forced to endure this for some time before Lacey finally wiped a tear from her eye.

 

“Oh god, oh god...my side…” she wheezed before looking down at Horsea and saying “...go trash the toy with swift.”

 

“ _Horsea!”_ her Pokemon said as it suddenly sent a hail of yellow stars flashing into Magnemite. Bayley knew that swift, as a normal type move, shouldn’t have been all that effective against a Steel-type Pokemon like Magnemite. Yet somehow she wasn’t even surprised when the attack knocked Magnemite backward and sent it rolling along the ground.

 

Sighing Bayley looked over at TJ with an increasingly forced feeling smile and asked: “Mind if I handle this?” When TJ just gave a jerky nod Bayley turned back to look at Horsea before saying: “Bulbasaur, you think you have a second tackle like that last one in you?”

 

“ _Bulbaaaaaaa!”_ her Pokemon shouted as it hurdled toward Horsea. A moment later, it was done.

 

“Maybe you should spend a little less time being buttheads a little more time training with your Pokemon!” Bayley called in triumph.

 

“You two are useless!” the leader of the other group snapped at the two girls who had just lost the battle.

 

“Sorry,” they both said, looking down at their feet in exactly the same way TJ had been.

 

“Velvet, we’re handling this!” the leader said as she threw a Pokeball.

 

“Of course Angelina!” the last girl said as she two threw out her Pokeball. Two Pokemon appeared then.

 

“ _Eevee!”_

 

“ _Oddish!”_

 

“Hey! We never agreed to another battle!” Bayley shouted indignantly.

 

“Deal with it, honey!” Angelina said before saying: “Eevee, show them YOUR tackle!”

 

Bayley had to think fast. She had a plan but she just had to hope Bulbasaur would catch on in time. “Bulbasaur, catch and redirect!” she cried. She needn’t have worried.

 

“ _Bulbasaurrrrrrr!”_ her Pokemon cried as his vines lanced out and caught Eevee in midair. Spinning on the spot, Bulbasaur whirled Eevee over his head. Then, still holding onto the startled Pokemon, used Eevee as a battering ram to knock Oddish sideways.

 

“Oddish!” the girl named Velvet cried as she ran to her Pokemon.

 

“Bulbasaur! Keep hold and with one vine and use vine whip with the other!” Bayley said with a gleam in her eye. What happened next resembled nothing so much as a kind of upside-down slapping. Eevee, suspended by one leg, was getting repeatedly whacked by Bulbasaur’s second vine. After a few seconds Bayley put a end to it, having no desire to injure anyone.

 

A memory of the day she’d met Bulbasaur sprang into Bayley’s mind as she planted her fists on her hips before pointing down the road and saying: “Losers take a walk!”

 

Angelina was glaring daggers at Bayley but one look at Bulbasaur stopped whatever comment she’d been about to make. Instead, she schooled her features into a sneer as she returned Eevee to it’s Pokeball. “Come on girls, let's not waste another second on frumpy and dorky here,” she said, her nose firmly in the air. Without another word, they pushed past Bayley and TJ without a glance.

 

“I hate girls like that,” Bayley muttered. Then she turned around, knelt, and hugged Bulbasaur. “You did so great buddy! I’m so proud of you!” she said as she did.

 

“ _Bulba!”_

 

A small noise drew Bayley’s attention then. Turning she saw TJ holding Magnemite and patting its head sadly. Her face falling she set Bulbasaur down and took a step toward him with her hand out. “Hey, TJ, you did-” she started to say but then she leapt backward as TJ roughly flailed at her hand.

 

“You know I don’t need your help! I didn’t ask for it! I’m not a baby!” he shouted.

 

Bayley was totally flummoxed by this sudden change. She had to blink a few times before she said: “Tj, I never said you were I just-”

 

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” TJ shouted before he turned and hurried down the road in the same direction the girls had gone. This left Bayley feeling very confused a little hurt.

 

“What was that about Bulbasaur? Pidgey?” she asked. Neither Pokemon had any insight to offer, however. Sighing, Bayley gathered up her stuff and then her rock. “Bulbasaur, you just battled so you don’t have to carry yours if you don’t want,” she offered.

 

“ _Bulba!”_ came the hot response. It was clear Bulbasaur would carry a rock as long as anyone else was.

 

“That’s the spirit,” Bayley said. She then turned to Pidgey with an apologetic look and added: “When we get there you’ll probably have to spend some time in your Pokeball, OK? I think people might think it’s weird if I have two Pokemon just following me around.”

 

“ _Pidge,”_ Pidgey said as it nodded sagely.

 

“Thanks for understanding, both of you,” Bayley said, cheering a little bit tough TJ’s sudden anger still stung her.

 

They made it all the way to Viridian that day. It was only early evening by the time they spotted the Poke Center and they were just walking toward when they suddenly heard a loud cry.

 

“ _PIKA! PIKAAAA!”_

 

Startled, Bayley turned and saw a Pikachu hurrying toward her on all fours. The Pokemon was clearly frantic as it approached and Bulbasaur stepped protectively in front of Bayley. “No, let Pikachu through,” she told him. Bulbasaur looked up at her in surprise but when she nodded he stepped aside.

 

“Hi there, are you OK?” Bayley asked as she knelt to wait for the advancing Pokemon. Pikachu didn’t respond right away, it couldn’t. Instead, it fell flat on its face in front of Bayley, gasping for air.

 

“ _Pikaaaa,”_ it said in an exhausted tone.

 

“Hey! Easy there, let’s get you to the Pokemon Center-” Bayley started to say but somehow this revived Pikachu as it fought it’s way back to its feet and began tugging frantically on Bayley’s arm.

 

“ _Chu! Chu! Pika Pi!”_ it was saying in a weak but urgent tone as it tried desperately to tug Bayley along.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you-” Bayley started to ask but then she noticed something. On the Pokemon’s arm was what looked like a tiny wristwatch. Staring at it Bayley noticed it had a small symbol on its face. The logo was a gear with the letter’s ‘BL’ inside of it.  Bayley’s eyes shot open as she digested this.

 

That was the symbol Becky put on all her inventions.

 

“You’re Becky’s Pikachu?!” she asked the Pokemon urgently.

 

“Chuuuuuuuu!” It said, nodding but still trying to get Bayley to move.

 

“Wait...is Becky in trouble?” Bayley asked, suddenly feeling cold dread in her stomach. Pikachu didn’t answer but just looked up at her nodded.

 

Bayley nodded at this and turned to Bulbasaur saying: “I need you to go into the Pokeball OK?”

 

“ _Bulba,”_ her friend said gravely. A moment later he’d vanished into a ball of red light. Bayley scooped up Pikachu in her arms and, holding him to her chest, said: “Point the way!”

 

As she ran she completely missed the flash of luminescent white fur in the trees above her, and the big blue eyes carefully following her progress.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I haven't turned around a new update on a story this quickly in a long time. What can I say? I was inspired.
> 
> If you're enjoying the adventures of Bayley and Bulbasaur please consider bookmarking so you won't miss any of them! I intend to update frequently. I'd also really appreciate any kudos or comment's you'd choose to honor me with! 
> 
> Don't forget that there are two other "Horsewomen of Pokemon" stories being written by the talented RelentlassHuggerSquad! These follow the adventures of Becky and Sasha. Find them both here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1282970
> 
> What did you guys think of today's chapter? Our team seems to be getting stronger right? The Beautiful People really had no idea what they were getting into. But what was the deal with TJ? ANd will Bayley be in time to help Becky?
> 
> Thanks for reading


	4. Chapter 4: Becky/Bayley

**Please visit the work entitled: "The Horsewomen of Pokemon: The Horsewomen" (also part of this series) for Chapter 4.**


	5. Chapter 5: A Good Deed's Reward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley decides to spend a day in Viridian City and ends up helping solve a mystery.

The afternoon of the day she’d visited Becky in her hospital room, Bayley Martinez was sitting on a park bench just enjoying the sunlight.

 

She’d run all her errands and stocked up her supplies. She was hoping to make it all the way to Pewter City in the next week or so and she wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. But, since it was late in the day she supposed she would start the next morning. 

 

“How does ice cream sound pal?” Bayley asked Bulbasaur who was, once again, walking beside her.

 

“ _ Bulbasaur?”  _ her Pokemon asked curiously.

 

“Oh right…” Bayley said, realizing he would have no idea what that was. She thought about how to go about describing the dessert to someone with Bulbasaur’s limited frame of reference but then gave up. “I’ll just show you,” she said with a smile, she’d spotted a shop up the street. 

 

But when the arrived at the door she was dismayed to find a man just turning the sign on the inside from open to closed. Bayley frowned, it was only about four in the afternoon, too early for a business like this to be closing.

 

“Excuse me? Can I have some ice cream?” She asked politely through the screen.

 

“I’m sorry miss, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to close for a few days,” the man answered.

 

Bayley’s face fell as she asked: “Why?”

 

“Something’s wrong with my building…” the man said sadly “...the plumbing has been backed up and the water has turned foul. The city won’t be able to look at it until next week so I have to close until then. 

 

“Oh...Okay,” Bayley said sadly as she stepped away. It was odd, she hadn’t even been thinking of ice cream five minutes ago and now she terrible disappointed. Kicking the sidewalk once she kept walking again, Bulbasaur in tow.

 

“ _ Bulba?” _

 

“Don’t worry about it Bulbasaur, we’ll find something else,” Bayley said, some of her good nature returning. Turning right at the corner of the street Bayley. She was just considering the idea of maybe trying to find the famous Viridian City Trainer House when she noticed something odd.

 

All along the street, she saw other businesses showing closed signs. As she walked she read on several that they too were having plumbing problems. If she’d thought about it at all, Bayley would have guessed that things just ran more smoothly in cities like Viridian versus, say, a small town like Pallet. To see so many businesses affected by something like this struck her as odd.

 

But it wasn’t really her problem so Bayley just kept on walking. The knew that trainer house was further up the largest hill in the city so she was just moving in that general direction. As she walked she was thinking about her upcoming journey and how she would handle it. She was hoping to see, and maybe even capture, some Pokemon along the way but that wasn’t her primary goal.

 

Bayley would certainly like to capture and train strong Pokemon but the idea of simply capturing the wondrous creatures for sake of collecting them didn’t hold any appeal to her. If Bayley was going to capture a Pokemon then she wanted to really put in the time to bond with that Pokemon. This wouldn’t be possible if her computer storage was bursting with Pokemon she’d abandoned there.

 

She knew that Becky would probably do something similar, but for different reasons. As for Sasha and Charlotte, Bayley could see both of them accumulating huge collections of Pokemon. She didn’t actually ‘disapprove’ but she knew it wasn’t something she could ever do.

 

“Bulbasaur?” she asked suddenly.

 

“ _ Bulba?” _

 

“How would you feel about more company?” Bayley asked him.

 

“ _ Bulba Bulba Bulbasaur saur,”  _ he said from beside her, the response had a decidedly questioning air to it.

 

“Like...would you appreciate it if I caught more Pokemon for you? You know? So you’d have more friends like Pidgey?” Bayley clarified.

 

She looked down to see Bulbasaur obviously thinking hard about this. In the end, he looked up at her and said: “ _ Saurrrrrr.”  _ Bayley interpreted this as ‘do YOU want to catch more Pokemon?’

 

“I suppose…” Bayley answered thoughtfully “...but I want to catch the RIGHT Pokemon you know?”

 

“ _ Bulba.” _

 

“You and Pidgey are already friends, but I hope we’ll find someone else soon,” Bayley told him happily. 

 

She had no idea how right she was.

 

It only took about ten minutes for them to reach the base of the hill they were seeking. Looking up Bayley could see both the Trainer House and the Viridian City Gym high above her. 

 

“Well, ready to do some climbing?” Bayley asked Bulbasaur.

 

“ _ Bulbasaur!”  _ came the eager reply. Bayley was about to start walking again when she heard a shriek. Looking up quickly she saw two dark haired girls running from around the back of one of the nearby buildings. They look almost identical and both looked like they’d just seen the fright of her life. Several other pedestrians were looking startled at the sudden sound but the girls were running right at Bayley.

 

“What happened?” Bayley asked as they neared.

 

“It’s disgusting!” one girl said as she hurtled past.

 

“Ewww!” agreed the other mid-stride.

 

This left Bayley blinking in puzzlement. WHAT was ‘disgusting’ and ‘eww’? Turning to look in the direction the girls had come from she noticed that the building was one in the last row of structures before the ground began to slope upward. Curious now, she hurried across the street and rounded the corner of the building.

 

All she saw in front of her was a long row of buildings to one side, and to the other a long ditch. She guessed it was where most of the water from the area drained, though it was dry at the moment. Immediately to Bayley’s left was a large culvert. She was still trying to figure out what might have startled the two girls Then she heard the rummaging.

 

Turning slowly she looked down into the ditch, the sound was coming from inside the culvert. Looking down at Bulbasaur Bayley put a finger to her lips and began to slowly creep down the slope. It took them a few seconds but eventually, she was standing among the rocks at the bottom of the ditch and staring into the culvert. 

 

Something was definitely moving inside. 

 

“Hello?” Bayley called, her voice echoing.

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _

 

There was no reply but whatever was in the culvert shifted around again, making more noise. Bayley guessed that it must have been moving over some kind of debris or garbage given the clanking sound that it was making. Taking a cautious step backward, Bayley took the flashlight clipped to her backpack strap and flicked it on before directing the beam into the culvert. She had to search for only a moment before she found the source of the noise.

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ came the cry as what seemed to be a mass of purple goo began to undulate toward Bayley. 

 

“Of course it’s one of these!” Bayley said as she turned to Bulbasaur and asked: “You ready to do this buddy?”

 

“ _ Bulbasaur!”  _ he said proudly as he jumped in front of Bayley.

 

“ _ Grimer! Grimer! Grime!”  _ Grimer said as it moved slowly forward. Bayley guessed it was asking Bulbasaur what the hell he was doing on its doorstep. For her part, Bayley was guessing she’d found the source of some of the city’s plumbing problems. She’d seen several signs up around the town warning residents to be vigilant and to report any signs of Grimer, Muk, Koffing, and Weezing in and around the city due to their potential to be nuisances.

 

Bayley wasn’t sure she liked the idea of calling any Pokemon nothing more than a ‘nuisance’ in principle. Then again she hadn’t been able to get ice cream and it was likely because of the slimy creature in front of her. Whatever her thoughts on the matter, Grimer seemed to have decided it had tolerated their presence long enough.

 

“ _ Grimeeeeeeeeeee,”  _ It snorted as a glob of the purple goo that seemed to compose it’s body suddenly sped toward Bulbasaur and Bayley.

 

“Look out!” Bayley called as she and Bulbasaur jumped in opposite directions. The glob hit the bank a few feet behind Bulbasaur and Bayley swore that she could hear a hissing sound after it landed, as though it were melting the grass. She didn’t have time to think about this however as she pointed at Grimer and said: “Bulbasaur! Leech Seed!” 

 

Grimer was going to be an interesting opponent. Bayley’s father had taught Bayley about a great many Pokemon while she’d been growing up and she was now recalling everything she’d learned about Grimer. It’s very body was so toxic that it was corrosive so she’d have to avoid using any of Bulbasaur’s purely physical attacks. Instead, they’d have to work from a distance.

 

Leech seed was a good start in that it would continually sap Grimer’s strength over time while bolstering Bulbasaurs. But Grimer wasn’t nearly beaten yet.

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ it bellowed as a billowing cloud of gas poured from its maw. 

 

“Bulbasaur, back off! It’s poison gas attack! But it will dissipate faster in the open air!” Bayley shouted as she followed her own advice and retreated back a few paces. It was hard to tell but Bayley was fairly certain that Grimer had left the culvert now and was in the ditch.

 

“Bulbasaur! Sleep powder!” Bayley called through the gas. One of the things she’d done at night in her tent was memorize the attacks Bulbasaur would know, though she hadn’t tried most of them yet. So it was some relief to her when she heard a soft rushing sound that she assumed meant the sleep powder was leaving Bulbasaur’s bulb.

 

Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell if it was having any effect yet, the cloud that Grimer had emitted was still too thick. So she and Bulbasaur were forced to wait for several agonizing seconds while it cleared. But when it did, Bayley beamed.

 

Grimer seemed to be slumped forward, though it was hard to tell this with a Pokemon whose body was sludge. Whatever it’s posture, it’s eye’s were closed and it was unmistakably snoring. Grinning in triumph, Bayley reached up and tightened her ponytail before pulling one of her empty Pokeballs off her belt. Taking careful aim she tossed it at Grimer.

 

“Pokeball, GO!” she said. The ball hit Grimer straight on what Bayley estimated was its head. At least it was the area around its eyes. It bounced off and then opened as Grimer vanished into it in a burst of red light. The Pokeball hit the bottom of the culvert and rocked back and forth there for several seconds before it’s button turned from red back to grey.

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _ Bulbasaur cheered.

 

“We did it, buddy! We caught a Grimer!” Bayley shouted with joy as she ran over and scooped Bulbasaur into a big hug. She squeezed him tight for a few moments before setting him down and going to pick up her Pokeball. It was only now that Grimer was gone that realized that the air suddenly didn’t stink. She’d been so focused on her battle that she’d barely noticed it before.

 

“Well done!” a voice called from above her. Turning, Bayley saw a woman in a blue and red uniform standing at the top of the ditch, a Growlithe by her side.

 

“I-” Bayley started to say but found she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.

 

“We’ve been trying to catch that Grimer for several days now,” she said as she waited for Bayley to climb the bank, even helping her the last few steps. 

 

“Oh...well...I’m glad I could help,” Bayley said. 

 

“I’m officer Victoria, and this is Growlithe. On behalf of the citizens of Viridian City let me thank you for helping in the apprehension of that Grimer. Please let me offer you this reward,” the tall dark-haired woman said as she handed Bayley a small envelope.

 

“A reward?” Bayley asked, dumbfounded.

 

“Viridian City has standing policy that anyone who captures and removes a nuisance Pokemon is paid one hundred Poke Dollars,” Victoria said as she pressed the envelope into Bayley’s hand. She spun Bayley around only for the girl's eyes to be dazzled by a bright flash. “Congratulations, you’re going to be in the paper as well,” Victoria told Bayley.

 

“I- uh, what?” Bayley said but the police officer was already on her motorcycle.

 

“OK, make sure to keep your Grimer in your Pokeball while you’re in town, bye!” and then she was gone in a cloud of exhaust. This left a very befuddled and bemused Bayley still holding the envelope. 

 

“That was…” she started to say but then found she had no more words.

 

“ _ Bulba?”  _

 

“You and me both…” Bayley said as she stuffed the envelope into her pocket. Deciding that she’d give the Trainer House a pass, Bayley turned around and headed back to the Pokemon Center. After checking with Nurse Molly Bayley retired to her room and released her Pokemon.

 

“Bulbasaur and Pidgey...let’s formally introduce ourselves to Grimer!” Bayley said as she opened her final Pokeball. There was a flash and a moment later the Pokemon appeared. It took a lot of effort on Bayley’s part not to choke as a powerful scent filled the room. 

 

“Grimer!” the Pokemon said as it looked around.

 

“Hi, Grimer!” Bayley said, forcing herself to smile and not show any sign of how much her nose was protesting. “My name is Bayley and this is Bulbasaur and Pidgey, welcome to our little family!”

 

Grimer looked from Bayley to Bulbasaur and then Pidgey. After a moment it asked: “ _ Grimer?”  _

 

Bayley guessed at its meaning and said: “It’s all water under the bridge Grimer.”

 

“ _ Grimer?”  _

 

“That’s right, I want us all to be friends!” Bayley reassured it.

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ the Pokemon said as it surged forward and wrapped its arms around her legs. This induced a moment of panic in Bayley as she feared that her legs might be burned like the grass. She flinched only to find that the only sensation around her legs was an odd kind of cold and slimy feeling.

 

Cracking an eye open, Bayley looked down and saw that Grimer was still latched onto her legs but, aside from an unpleasant smell, nothing bad had happened. Frowning she looked at Bulbasaur who was poised to spring but now looked as confused as Bayley.

 

“Oh...so you can decide who your body hurts?” Bayley asked.

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ the Pokemon said enthusiastically as it nodded. Bayley let out a small relieved breath at this before something occurred to her. 

 

“Uh...Grimer?” she asked.

 

“ _ Grimer?”  _

 

“Can you...only if you want to obviously BUT...can you do anything about the smell?” Bayley asked, trying to sound polite. 

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ The Pokemon said eagerly, and a moment later the smell in the room lessened dramatically. It wasn’t gone but it was much more bearable. 

 

“Thanks!” Bayley said. Both Bulbasaur and Pidgey also made their gratitude known. Then that gave Bayley an idea. “You know what? I’m giving you a nickname, welcome to the team...Stinky,” she said. She’d been worried the suggestion might offend the Pokemon, though she’d meant it kiddingly. Thus she was surprised to find that the Pokemon was bobbing up and down in happiness at the idea. 

 

“Welcome to the team...Stinky,” Bayley said with a laugh.

 

It was good to be among friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like Bayley needed a break from traveling for a while so it's nice to write a simple, self-contained, story for her. And she got a Grimer!
> 
> If you're loving this story, tell me all about it below! And if you REALLY love it...bookmark!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6: Guardian Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and her team head towards Viridian Forest, along the way Bayley meets her guardian angel.

It had been almost a day since Bayley had left Viridian City. During that time she and her Pokemon had been very productive. 

 

She was actually making better time than she’d expected to, she’d thought it might take a day plus to reach the edge of the forest. It was only six in the evening and she was already approaching the treeline. This was all the more remarkable since the first few hours had been very slow for them.

 

Bayley preferred to allow her Pokemon to travel outside their Pokeball whenever possible. Usually, this meant Bulbasaur walked beside her and Pidgey flew overhead. As they walked, they would all carry their rocks and thus get stronger. This dynamic had been complicated by the arrival of ‘Stinky’.

 

‘Stinky’ was a Grimer that Bayley had captured in Viridian City, earning herself a reward from the city in the process. Stinky was well….stinky and acidic to most ground that he might be on (Bayley had since determined that Stinky was a boy). Bayley held none of this against him, he was her Pokemon so she loved him, but he had another issue that was a much larger potential stumbling block: he was kind of slow.

 

Stinky moved along by undulating his grime covered body along the ground. It was an ungainly method of locomotion and simply didn’t allow him to keep up with the others. This, combined with the fact that he would kill any grass he passed over, had prompted Bayley to call a halt after the first two hours of walking.

 

“Stinky?” she asked as she knelt in front of the Pokemon.

 

“ _ Grimer?”  _ stinky had asked quizzically.

 

“Would you mind riding in the Pokeball for a while? You don’t have to if you don’t want to but I don’t want to tire you out by forcing you to chase the rest of us, and we do need to get moving a bit faster,” she explained. She was careful to frame her words as a request however because she really did want her Pokemon to be part of her decisions.

 

“ _ Grimer, Grimer, Grime?”  _

 

“I’ll let you out again when we stop to train or rest, I promise,” Bayley said. On impulse, she held out her hand to the Pokemon. Grimer seemed to think about her worlds for a while before it reached out to press it’s slimy hand to hers. Bayley was struck as always by how cold Grimer’s hands were, but she was getting used to it.

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ Sinky said happily.

 

“Thanks, pal, see you soon!” Bayley said with a smiled as she took Grimer’s Pokeball from her belt and aimed it at Stinky. A moment later the Pokemon vanished in a flash of red light.

 

Travel had been a bit easier after that. Throughout the day they had stopped three times. One time was for lunch where Bayley had made sure to find a rock that Stinky could sit on with the rest of them. The other two times were for training, and here Stinky had been able to fully participate.

 

Bulbasaur was getting to be very accurate with both his vines and leaves. For her part, Pidgey was becoming a much more polished flyer even to Bayley’s eye. As a result, she’d had to increase the difficulty of their training as well as find a way to include Stinky. 

 

What she’d come up with seemed to be doing the trick. Whenever she spotted a suitable place, usually someplace without much green vegetation so Stinky wouldn’t inadvertently kill it. Bayley would then pick up three rocks and mark one of them with a marker, but keep Stinky from seeing which. She would then hand two to Pidgey and take one herself. As soon as Pidgey released her rocks, Bayley would throw hers while Bulbasaur tried to hit all three before they hit the ground. At that point, Stinky would take off as fast as he could in search of the rock with the mark. 

 

The goal was to improve his overall speed and thought it was obviously far too early to tell if it was working, Stinky seemed to enjoy the workout as much as the other Pokemon. Almost as much as Bayley did in fact. She loved seeing all of her Pokemon working hard and working together to get stronger. And Bayley meant to be right there next to them as they worked.

 

She would work her team for about an hour each time they stopped and then let them rest. When they started walking again they would always forget their rocks after a training stop, Bayley didn’t want to hurt anyone. Also, if she was honest, her own arms were very tired. And now, back in the present, Bayley had decided that they would camp at the base of a large hill along the treeline.

 

“You did great today bubby,” she told Bulbasaur happily after she’d set up camp. Pidgey was sitting in a tree branch above them, cleaning her feathers while Stinky was still in his Pokeball. This left Bayley alone with Bulbasaur just like it had been in the beginning. She smiled again as she remembered her first night on her own with only Bulbasaur for company. It had actually only been about a week ago, but it felt like a very long time ago. 

 

Bayley then felt extremely guilty because she hadn’t even called her dad yet. At first, this had been a conscious decision on her part because she didn’t want to make herself miss him any more than she already had. But ever since Viridian City, which would have been a perfect place to call him, she’d simply forgotten. Pulling her pack toward her, Bayley dug out her phone and turned it on. Finding she had surprisingly strong coverage she called her dad.

 

Two rings and then the familiar voice that made Bayley smile: “ _ Hello?” _

 

“Hi, dad!” Bayley said happily.

 

“ _ Mija! Hello! How have you been kiddo, I was wondering when I’d hear from you,”  _

 

Bayley felt another twinge of guilt at this as she said: “I’m sorry dad, I should have called sooner.”

 

“ _ Oye! Don’t start with that Mija, I know how exciting this time is, the last thing you want to do is call home every night.” _

 

“It’s not that…” Bayley tried to say but knew her voice wasn’t carrying any conviction.

 

“ _ Sure Mija, now tell me...are you OK? Taking care of yourself?”  _

 

“Yeah, doing great and so are my Pokemon!” Bayley said enthusiastically.

 

“ _ Pokemon huh? Caught some new ones already?”  _

 

“Yeah!...” Bayley said enthusiastically “...well...I caught one. Pidgey just sort of decided to join me but I caught Grimer!”

 

Her father chuckled as she said: “ _ Yeah, I saw the newspaper article. Nice work Bayley. And that’s great about Pidgey Mija, it really shows how well you connect with Pokemon.” _

 

Bayley’s immediate embarrassment over the newspaper article was blown away by pride that suddenly swelled within her. This wasn’t just her dad complimenting her, it was former Johto and Kalos region Pokemon champion Eddie Guerrero speaking. 

 

“Thanks, dad. I know you always told me what it was like but having my own Pokemon is…” she trailed off for lack of a word to describe just how she felt with her Pokemon.

 

_ “I understand Mija, it’s special.” _

 

“Yeah...it is…” Bayley said with a smile. 

 

“ _ I’m proud of you Mija,” _

 

“Dad!”

 

Her father laughed again before he said: “ _ Alright, alright, I won’t embarrass you anymore. I just want to tell you how proud I am. And if you see Becky again tell her I’m glad she’s OK.” _

 

“I will,” Bayley said happily.

 

“ _ Now, tell me about your Pokemon and how you’re training them!”  _ her father asked. 

 

So Bayley launched into a detailed explanation of all the drills she’d developed for her Pokemon. Her father listened intently before he asked a few questions about them and then if Becky had actually battled yet, So she’d related the events with the group of girls and the boy named TJ on the road to Viridian.

 

“ _ You’re very creative Mija, and I love everything you’re doing. Just remember though, the best way for Pokemon to get stronger is by battling. Be smart about it, but making sure your team gets in some battles will maximize what you’re trying to do with your drills.” _

 

Bayley considered this for a moment. She couldn’t possibly claim to know anywhere near as much about Pokemon as her father but something didn’t feel right. She wanted her Pokemon to be strong but somehow it felt wrong to go around beating up wild Pokemon to do it. But she didn’t say anything, she needed to think about it for a while.

 

After a few more minutes of talking her father bid her good night and they ended the call. To save her battery in case of emergency Bayley turned off her phone and slid it back into her pack. It was getting dark quickly by now so she called Pidgey down and then they all got in her tent. Shortly after, she fell asleep.

 

Bayley was dreaming about tacos when she suddenly awoke. She had to blink her eyes several times to assure herself they were open, that’s how dark it was. But something had awoken her and a moment later she heard a soft tinkling sound. Frowning she was about to try to go back to sleep again when she heard the sound once more. This time it was much closer, as though it were occurring right outside her tent.

 

Turning over slowly, not wanting to wake Bulbasaur, Bayley looked at the flap of her tent. The sound was definitely coming from outside the tent but now there was a kind of glowing white light there too.    
  


Bayley might have been a bit groggy but she knew enough to be cautious. Chances were this was a Pokemon of some kind but that didn’t mean it would be smart for her to leave the tent. There many Pokemon in the world and some were very aggressive and very powerful. 

 

And yet…

 

The longer Bayley stared at the light, the more she got the sense that it was her friend. She had no idea why she felt this way, but it was almost as though someone was draining the suspicion from her and replacing it with a pleasant warm sense of calm. Somehow Bayley knew, to a total certainty, that whatever was making the light was her friend. And it was in this almost trancelike state that she got slowly out of her tent.

 

Sure enough, there was a small orb of brilliantly pearlescent light hovering just a few feet from her at chest height. A soft sound like distant windchimes seemed to emanate from it as Bayley looked on. Entranced, Bayley took a step toward the orb only to withdraw her foot quickly. She hadn’t put on her shoes and the grass was cold and wet. 

 

Turning around she grabbed her shoes and was tugging them on when the orb began to move away from her. “Hey, wait!” Bayley called as she frantically finished tieing her shoes and then hurried after the orb. It didn’t seem to be trying very hard to elude her, instead, it bobbed along at a brisk walking pace. Bayley, heedless of her surroundings, hurried after it.

 

She only came to a stop when the orb itself did. They were standing in a clearing about fifteen yards inside the trees. Even this close to the edge the canopy was thick enough that the only light came from the orb itself. The orb, and the dozens of eyes all around Bayley that reflected it’s light. Ordinarily, Bayley would have been concerned by this but somehow she wasn’t now. As long as she stayed near the orb, she’d be fine.

 

“Hello,” she told the orb gently after she’d stared at it for some time. There was no response but the Orb did bob a bit in the air. Bayley interpreted this as playful so she continued. “I...I think you’ve helped me before haven’t you?”

 

The orb didn’t respond, but it did bob up and down again in a way that suggested a nod to Bayley. Without anything else to go on Bayley decided to assume it was.

 

“Were...were you the one who helped me get Becky to Viridian City?” Bayley asked.

 

Nothing from orb that Bayley could see but she got the sense that it was agreeing with her. She couldn’t tell how she knew this, but she just knew.

 

“Thank you…” Bayley said, taking a cautious step forward “...Sincerely. Thank you for helping my friend.”

 

The orb gave another tinkling sound before it suddenly darted forward and flitted around Bayley in a dazzling acrobatic display. Bayley was a bit taken aback at first, but it only took a moment before she got the sense that the orb was...celebrating? Maybe wanting her to play with it like a puppy? Bending slowly downward, never taking her eyes off the orb, Bayley picked up a pebble and lifted it before herself. 

 

“Would...you like to play?” Bayley asked tentatively. The orb began to bob up and down more frenetically than before. Bayley couldn’t help but giggle as it did. “Here, catch,” Bayley said as she underhanded the pebble toward the orb. 

 

To her shock, the stone froze in mid-air just a few inches from the orb, suspended in mid-air. A moment later it came soaring back to Bayley who just barely managed to catch it. Still smiling, Bayley tossed it back and once again had the rock sent back to her. As they played catch she began throwing it off at other angles and even throwing two, in imitation of her training with Bulbasaur. Whatever she did, the orb caught them and sent them gently back to her.

 

Throwing a rock a few feet across a clearing probably shouldn’t have been that entertaining but somehow Bayley was having fun. The orb’s eager playfulness was infections and Bayley found that all she wanted to do was stay with it. They probably would have played catch until the dawn if something hadn’t moved in the woods nearby. 

 

In a flash, the orb was gone leaving Bayley alone in deep darkness that her eyes couldn’t penetrate. In the orbs absence, the full danger of her situation suddenly bore in on her. She was alone, without her Pokemon, in Viridian Forest. What was worse, she could barely see the way back to her tent. She was about to turn and run when a twig snapped in the darkness.

 

“ _ Heraaaaaaa,”  _ came a growl from deep in the darkness. A dark form forced its way into the clearing at that moment. It was almost as tall as Bayley and seemed to have a giant horn on its head. 

 

Bayley was rooted to the spot. She was reminded vividly of the time she’d been confronted by an angry Raticate. But this time, Pidgey wouldn’t be able to fly in and save her. Swallowing hard, Bayley tried to force her to take a step backward but fear had rooted her to the spot. Her mind flared with panic as looked frantically over her shoulder. Should she scream? Would Bulbasaur hear her? Then it was too late.

 

“ _ Heraaacross!”  _ the dark form growled before it launched itself at her. Bayley let out a panicked squeak as she dropped to the ground with her hands over her head. 

 

Then the clearing was full of light.

 

Blinking against the sudden Glare, Bayley was able to dimly see a dark form suspending in mid-air before her. Insect-like limbs flailed uselessly as it was held off the ground. Then, without a sound, it was suddenly sent hurtling back into the darkness with frightening speed. Bayley could hear it land several yards away.

 

“ _ Hera!”  _ it cried.

 

“Don’t hurt it!” Bayley told the orb. It was hard to tell with an orb of pure white light but Bayley got the sense that it turned toward her at these words. “Don’t hurt it! It’s gone,” Bayley insisted, wondering if it was wise to antagonize the orb. But she set her features and refused to look away from it.   

 

The orb didn’t do anything for several moments. Then Bayley saw a sudden bright shimmering in the underbrush before she heard a contented growl of “ _ Heracrossss”  _ Bayley got the sense that the Pokemon had just somehow been healed of its injuries.

 

“Thank you,” she told the orb. In response her whole world began to turn white, just like had happened when she’d been dragging Becky. Then, in a flash, Bayley was suddenly standing in front of her tent again.

 

Blinking she looked around and then reached out a tentative hand toward her tent, wanting to assure herself it was real. He fingers made contact with fabric a moment later and she was forced to concede that she had seemingly been transported again. A tinkling sound drew her attention and she found the orb floating a few feet away from her.

 

“Thanks again,” Bayley said, unsure of what else to say. She thought for a moment and then asked: “Are...are you a Pokemon?”

 

The orb didn’t react for what felt like a very long time. But just when Bayley was about to apologize for asking, something happened. With a low rushing sound, the orb’s surface suddenly went transparent, going from a pearlescent appearance to resembling the cleanest glass ever. But it was what was inside the orb that drew Bayley’s attention.

 

The Pokemon, if it was a Pokemon, was tiny barely a foot in length. Baley wasn’t sure how to describe it’s appearance. It was vaguely cat-like but far more ethereal. It had skin or fur that was brilliantly white as its orb had been with outsized blue eyes. Its long slender tail was floating out behind it as though it were in zero gravity while tiny arms rested on its belly. 

 

“What...what kind of Pokemon are you?” Bayley asked, so astonished that she could only whisper. The Pokemon tilted it’s head to one side and then another as it bobbed in the air. It seemed to be thinking but after a time it gave her it's answer in a high squeaky voice. 

 

“Mew”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! (or I hope it was to some people, I'm sure many of you figured it out before now).
> 
> But really, is there a Pokemon more suited to Bayley than Mew? I feel like they'd get along so well. But is Mew around for the long term? What do you think attracted Mew to Bayley?
> 
> If you liked today's chapter please consider leaving a kudo or a bookmark. Best of all are comments! I love talking with you all!
> 
> Thanks for Reading!


	7. Chapter 7: Viridian Forest Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley continues her trek through Viridian Forest with her newest friend before encountering a stranger from her past.

Sometimes Bayley forgot just how wild some parts of Kanto still were. But if she’d needed a reminder then trudging through Viridian Forest was all of that and more. 

 

Bayley’s Pokedex and Map had both assured her that it should only take about a day to cross from one side of the trees to the other. Well, she was in the middle of day two and she saw no end to the forest. Not that it was all that unpleasant in itself, but she did miss open sky over her head.

 

At least she’d gotten to see a lot of Pokemon. She’d managed to add Capterpie, Metapod, Butterfree, Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Shroomish, Ledyba and more to her Pokedex. She knew that Professor Angel would be pleased next time she uploaded her progress. 

 

She’d also kept herself and her team training very hard. She’d had Pidgey work on her aerial maneuvering by weaving through the trees. She’d worked on Grimer’s fitness by having him crawl through logs of various sizes and at various angles. For Bulbasaur, she’d had him use his vines to do pull-ups on a low branch, while Bayley did her best alongside him. She still couldn’t do one though. 

 

The time spent training probably accounted for most of their delay, but Bayley guessed she’d probably taken a few wrong turns here and there. She was still on a trail, of sorts, but she wasn’t confident it was ‘the’ trail. So she’d simply settled on always following the turns that kept her moving north or as close to north as possible. She knew she’d eventually reach the other side that way. 

 

Throughout their training, and walking, they’d seen very few other people. Mostly people looking to collect Bug-Type Pokemon or trainers on the same errand as her. One or two had even challenged her to a battle, but she’d politely declined. She meant to take her dad’s advice to heart but at the moment her priority was to try and make the edge of the forest before nightfall.

 

But even with the limited human contact, Bayley and her Pokemon hadn’t been without company. The strange Pokemon called ‘Mew’ spent a lot of time hovering alongside them as they walked, or watching interestedly as they trained. It had even joined them for a few meals and played the other Pokemon. 

 

When she’d awoken the morning after first meeting Mew, she’d fully expected the Pokemon to be one. Instead, as soon as she and her team had entered the forest she’d heard a rustling and Mew had appeared out of the dense leaves above her. The Pokemon had shed its protective orb and now was just hovering in the air.

 

“Well hey there!” Bayley and said brightly.

 

“ _ Mew,”  _ the Pokemon had said, sounding happy as well. 

 

Moving her hand very slowly, Bayley took out her Pokedex and looked at Mew in the eyes before asking: “Would you mind?” She hefted the device gently to show what she meant. Mew hadn’t answered but had just cocked its head to one side in curiosity. “It’s called a Pokedex…” Bayley explained, “...it tells me information about Pokemon and it records the ones I’ve seen.”

 

“ _ Mew,”  _ was the response but Bayley couldn’t tell what it meant. This could be the frustrating part about trying to communicate with Pokemon you didn’t know well. With Bulbasaur, she could usually guess what he meant due to their personal understanding, but she had no such background with Mew. 

 

“I’m just going to lift it up and point it at you, it won’t do anything though…” Bayley reassured the Pokemon “...I promise.”

 

Mew seemed to consider this for a while before it nodded once.

 

“Thanks,” Bayley said with a smile before she lifted her Pokedex and pointed it at Mew.

 

“ _ Mew, the new species Pokemon. Mew, is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people. Because it can use all kinds of moves, many scientists believe Mew to be the ancestor of Pokémon. So rare that it is still said to be a mirage by many experts. Only a few people have seen it worldwide.” _

 

Bayley blinked in surprise at this information. She looked up at Mew, hovering a few feet from her, and then back down at her Pokedex. She even replayed the audio twice to make sure she’d heard what she thought she had. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the idea that here, before her, was a mythical Pokemon. 

 

Turning the Pokedex around in her hand slowly, she held it out to Mew and asked: “Is this you?”

 

“ _ Mew!”  _ the Pokemon said happily before turning a somersault in mid-air. Its mirth was infections, making Bayley grin despite her shock. 

 

“Well...ah...nice to meet you, Mew,” she said. 

 

“ _ Mew! Mew!”  _ Mew replied, twirling whimsically before Bayley’s eyes.

 

After that, Mew had more or less stayed with the group, though it would occasionally vanish for a while. These intervals could last a few minutes or a few hours. The first time it had happened, Bayley had felt a small twinge of sadness as she’d though Mew had simply left. But then the Pokemon had come flitting back to them it’s face somewhat stained from what looked like berry juice. 

 

In some ways, the situation was similar to how Bayley had come to have Pidgey. But she sensed that it was different in that Mew did not consider itself ‘her’ Pokemon. Which was only fair, she would have felt ridiculous trying to claim a mythical Pokemon as her own anyway. She’d also learned that even in their current relationship, Mew had its limits.

 

The first time they’d met a trainer that day, Bayley had been excited. She’d wanted to show off this miraculous circumstance that had led her to a mythical Pokemon. But when she’d eagerly told the other girl about Mew and then pointed to the spot where the Pokemon had been hovering just a minute ago, she’d found nothing there.

 

“Uh...I don’t see anything,” the other girl had said, looking around.

 

“I...what?” Bayley asked, as confused as her companion.

 

“Yeah...some mythical Pokemon,” the other girl, who was older than Bayley, had muttered before walking away.

 

“But-...” Bayley said before she heard the twinkling sound behind her. She turned to find Mew once again hovering at head height. “Where were you?” Bayley demanded. When Mew didn’t do anything but cock it’s head again she elaborated saying: “I wanted to introduce you.”

 

Mew didn’t respond beside a tiny shake of its head. Yet this was somehow enough to make Bayley understand.

 

“Oh...you...you don’t want anyone else to see you?” Bayley guessed.

 

“ _ Mew,”  _ Mew said with a nod. Bayley sighed, she’d really wanted to be able to share this with someone, especially Becky. But she had to accept Mew’s decision or risk driving it away. 

 

“OK, well...lets’ get going then guys,” Bayley had said, still with a hint of resignation in her voice.

 

That had been yesterday morning and since then they’d settled into their current pattern. Maybe it was just Bayley’s imagination but she thought there seemed to be more light coming down through the trees now. She was just looking up at this when she heard someone shout from nearby.

 

“ _ Help!!”  _

 

Without thinking Bayley turned off the path and started hurrying in the direction of the shout. “Come on you two!” she called to Bulbasaur and Pidgey who were, as usual, out of their Pokeballs.

 

“ _ Help!!!”  _ came the shout again as Bayley crashed through the undergrowth. She knew that not all people ran toward potential danger, but that was how she’d been raised.

 

“Ouch,” she yelped as her ponytail got caught on a low hanging branch for a moment. But she yanked it free and kept on running. She eventually burst into a clearing that was mostly filled by a pond. As she did she saw the source of the shouting. On the far bank, a boy was being dangled upside down by his legs which were held by two green vines.

 

In a flash, Bayley recognized two facts. First, she knew the boy. He was the one who she’d helped battle those mean girls on route one. Second, the vines that had seized him were attached to a Pokemon sitting in the tree. It had a plant like body and a flat oval-shaped head. Bayley racked her brain, trying to remember what her father had taught her about Pokemon, and then it clicked. Carnivine! Then her eyes fell on the small green object in the boy's arms, and the situation became clear.

 

“Pidgey! Use peck on Carnivine, drive it away!” Bayley called upwards, knowing the bird Pokemon would hear her. 

 

Sure enough, a tannish blur flew across the clearing to the cry of “ _ Pidgeyyyyyyyyy _ !” There was a thudding sound and the Carnivine tumbled backward with a cry, but the move did the trick. Its vines released the boy and fell to the ground with a thud. Bayley hurried over to him and knelt. 

 

“Are you alright?” she asked as she looked him over. She seemed fine, though he was absolutely filthy. It looked like he’d rolled through the forest rather than walked.

 

“I...I...I think so? It just grabbed me suddenly,” he said sounding deeply shaken. 

 

“It wasn’t after you…” Bayley explained as she pointed at the Pokemon clasped in his arms “...it was after this cute little guy.” The boy, who Bayley now remembered was named TJ, was clasping a Spinarak to his chest.

 

“It...it was?” 

 

“Carnivine eats bugs, it must have been a really big one if it was going after Spinarak though. Are you alright little guy?” Bayley asked the Pokemon.

 

“ _ Spinnnn…”  _ the Pokemon said wearily. Bayley shrugged off her pack at this and dug into one of the side pouches. Producing a bluk berry she offered it to the Pokemon.

 

“These don’t do much, but they taste good so they make good treats,” Bayley explained before standing up and brushing at the dust on her legs. 

 

“Thanks…” TJ said as he offered the berry to Spinarak.

 

“You’re not going to get mad at me for helping you now?” Bayley asked, somewhat testily. She was remembering how TJ had treated her the last time they’d met. She regretted it because TJ looked dejected. It had been petty of her to bring it up like that. 

 

“I’m sorry...I...I don’t really know how to talk to girls,” TJ muttered to his lap. It was on the tip of Bayley’s tongue to say something like ‘how you would talk to anyone else’. But then she remembered how bewildering it could be to talk to Becky so she kept her mouth shut.

 

“Fresh start?” Bayley offered as she held out a hand to him. He blinked at her for a while before he nodded with an awkward smile. Grabbing her hand he let Bayley pull him to his feet.

 

“Thanks...for both things…” he murmured.

 

“Don’t mention it…” Bayley said. Now she got a better look at him he really did look terrible. “You know...I don’t think we’re that far from Pewter now. I was heading to the Pokemon Center there and I’m sure they have bunks and showers,” she said, not wanting to say anything too direct. But he seemed to catch her drift.

 

“I....got lost a few times,” he said sheepishly.

 

“Well no big deal, I did too,” Bayley tried to reassure him but TJ didn’t seem to hear him.

 

“So I just kept walking North when I dropped my map yesterday,” he finished. Bayley frowned at this and then her eyes widened as she realized what it meant.

 

“Did you get lost OFF the trail?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” TJ said glumly.

 

“So…” Bayley started to say but then couldn’t continue for a moment. She waited a moment and then tried again asking: “So you’ve just been cutting northward cross country for a DAY!” TJ just nodded. It took a huge effort to keep Bayley from rolling her eyes at this. “Come on, if we hurry I think we’ll make it to Pewter today,” she said.

 

“Ready to go Spinarak?” TJ asked the bug Pokemon before returning it to it’s Pokeball. He then retrieved his backpack from where it had fallen and hurried to follow Bayley.

 

“Did you just catch your Spinarak?” Bayley asked him.

 

“Yeah, just before that thing grabbed me,” TJ explained, sounding more enthusiastic than Bayley had ever heard.

 

“Coolness!” Bayley said happily.

 

After that, they talked much more naturally than before. TJ seemed to have relaxed and, for her part, Bayley had no desire to bring up the past. It only took them about two hours to reach the edge of the forest and that left plenty of daylight for them to walk the final few miles to Pewter City. As they went, Bayley was mostly happy with how things were, save for one thing.

 

Mew, it seemed, hadn’t followed her to rescue TJ and in the time since Bayley had seen no sign of the Pokemon. This did sadden her a bit Mew had a kind of light-hearted playfulness that had spoken to Bayley’s own personality. But it seemed that Mew wasn’t comfortable around TJ. Bayley had been worried at first that she might not see the Pokemon again. But then something happened. 

 

As she and TJ walked down the hill toward Pewter City, TJ’s phone rang. Pulling it out of his pocket he offered Bayley and apologetic look and said: “It’s my mom.”

 

“Go ahead!” Bayley urged him with a smile as she slowed her pace to fall back a few paces from him. As TJ began to speak Bayley suddenly felt a breeze on her neck, despite the fact that it was a calm day. Turning sharply Bayley didn’t see anything but then she heard it. A soft twinkling sound in the air.

 

Bayley smiled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bayley continues her Pokemon journey and I continue to love writing it for her!
> 
> You know the deal! Comments, kudos, and bookmarks are all appreciated!
> 
> Now, about today's chapter! What did everyone think of Bayley's journey? Do you think she'll eventually have to cave and start catching more Pokemon, or can she remain more of an observer? Do you think she and TJP are at the beginning of a friendship? And what would that mean for Mew?
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	8. Chapter 8: Boulder Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley challenges for her first ever gym badge in Pewter City!

“So...where are you going now?” 

 

Bayley thought about the question as she slid her thumbs underneath the straps of her pack. It was a good one. She, TJ, and her Pokemon had all arrived in Pewter City the day before. They’d spent a restful night at the Pokemon Center and now faced the prospect a brand new day with little to do.

 

“Well…” Bayley mused “...I should probably hit the PokeMart while I’m here and then I thought I’d take my team out of the city for some more training but I’m kind of open to any ideas you have?” Somehow the assumption she and TJ would be traveling together was being taken for granted now. 

 

“I kinda wanted to go check out the space museum…” TJ mumbled. Bayley was noticing that he had a hard asserting himself or even offering suggestions.

 

“That sounds fun, when are you going?” Bayley asked. When TJ moved his lips like a beached fish for a moment Bayley realized what she’d said. “Oh...did you mean for us to go together?” 

 

“Only if you want to…”

 

“Tell you what, I’m going to take my team out do some training but maybe we can meet up after lunch?” Bayley suggested.

 

“Uh, sure,” TJ said with a forced smile. Without another word, he turned around and slunk away into the bustling crowds along the street.  Bayley stared after him for several moments before sighing.

 

“Boys can be so strange,” she said to herself before she shook her head and turned to walk in the opposite direction. 

 

Her plan was to stop by the PokeMart before leaving the city for some training. If she was honest she was probably overstocked at the moment, but knowing that she was facing the journey through Mt. Moon soon, she wanted to keep things that way. But as she walked in the direction of the shop she had to scoop Bulbasaur up off the ground and step quickly back out of the way of a pair of running people. 

 

“Quick! We need to get to the Pokemon Center!” a girl was shouting to a companion as they sprinted past. Bayley's eyes widened she watched them recede before turning to a man standing nearby.

 

“Excuse me, sir?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Do you know what happened to her?” Bayley asked, concerned.

 

“I’m afraid not, but they came from the direction of the Pokemon Gym, I hear things can get pretty rough there,” the man said before walking away. 

 

“Wow...good thing we were headed there right Bulba-” Bayley started to say but suddenly had to take a step back as the Pokemon in her arms began thrashing wildly. “Whoa there Bulbasaur, easy! What’s wrong?” she asked as she tried to set the Pokemon down but ended up half dropping him.

 

“ _ Bulba! Bulbasaur! Bulba SAUR!”  _ the small Pokemon growled defiantly up at her. Bayley frowned as she tried to extract meaning from the words.

 

“Something about the gym?” she guessed.

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _ Bulbasaur said with an affirmative nod.

 

“You want to go there? Really?”

 

“ _ Bulbasaur!”  _

 

“Did you somehow miss the   girl who just ran past us with what I assume was her injured Pokemon after going to that same gym?” Bayley asked her Pokemon incredulously.

 

“ _ Bulbasaur! Bulba! Bulba Bulba SAUR!”  _ Bulbasaur shot back, standing up taller on his four legs and literally growling at Bayley. It was odd, but Bayley rarely noticed his two small but sharp teeth. But she did now that they were being bared at her.

 

“You want to go to that gym and fight?” Bayley asked, more surprised than anything. Though even as she thought this he realized she probably shouldn’t have been. For a Pokemon like Bulbasaur, with his fighters personality, the idea of an opponent as strong as whoever ran the Pewter Gum would irresistible. Still, that didn’t mean Bayley was on board.

 

“You’re not ready for that yet Bulbasaur, we’ve got a LOT more training to do,” Bayley said airily, as though the matter was closed. “Let’s get out there and, ouch!” she yelped as Bulbasaur headbutted her leg. “Hey what was that for?” she demanded.

 

“ _ Bulllllllba!”  _ Bulbasaur growled, low in his throat. Bayley glared back down at him, there eyes locking. Bulbasaur had never acted likes this before, ever. Bayley was even on the point of taking out his Pokeball and recalling him when something clicked into place in the back of her head. Bayley was trying to protect her Pokemon and friend. But to Bulbasaur, this would seem more like she didn’t believe in him. And it was this realization that made Bayley’s face soften as she knelt down in front of her Pokemon.

 

“Bulbasaur...I...I just want you to be safe. I don’t think I could ever forgive myself if you got seriously injured at that gym. ESPECIALLY if it was because I rushed you in there before you were ready,” she said quietly as she looked her Pokemon in the eyes again. Rather than respond, Bulbasaur stepped forward and rubbed his face against her leg.

 

“ _ Bulba,”  _ he said quietly.

 

“I know, and I know that you’re going to do great. Just...be careful OK?” Bayley said as she scratched Bulbasaur behind his ears. It seemed that her Pokemon had done more to listen to her father’s advice about battling that she had.

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _

 

“Oh, and one last thing?” Bayley told him as she stood.

 

“ _ Bulba?” _

 

“Let’s go kick some ass,” Bayley said as she gave him a wink. 

 

And so, less than five minutes later Bayley paused in front of the large double doors set into the front of the Pewter City gym. She took a deep breath, and then another, and then one more before throwing them open with all her might. Which was springingly easy, the hinges were remarkable.

 

“Alright Pewter City Gym! I, Bayley Martinez, am here to challenge you for-” Bayley was declaiming when someone hurried toward her. 

 

“Oh my- what are you doing kid!” a harassed-looking man cried as she hurried past Bayley to examine one of the doors. He then let it close a bit so he could look at the wall behind it. “You are SO lucky you didn’t damage the wall!” he said as he rounded on Bayley. 

 

“I’m...I’m…” Bayley stammered, completely thrown off the speech she’d been about to make.

 

“Who do you think you are? Just walking into places and trying to break the doors!” 

 

“I’m really sorry! I just...I just want to challenge at the gym!” Bayley tried to explain.

 

“Well, you can just walk in and say so! You don’t need the declarative statement or the property damage!” the man shot back as she continued to inspect the doors. Before Bayley could even respond the sound of a lone pair of hands slow clapping cut in.

 

“Very impressive little girl gotta say I’ve seen a lot of challenges come in here but no one has ever thought to vandalize the place before,” a deep voice said behind Bayley. Spinning around, Bayley found herself facing a huge man with a shaved head and a small beard.

 

“I didn’t mean- I…” Bayley stammered.

 

“Listen, honey, I don’t care. My job is to make sure weaklings don’t make it through to bother the Monster among men. So let’s get this over with so I can have lunch,” he said as she pulled a Pokeball off his belt.

 

Bayley’s eyes narrowed. She could feel the latina heat rising.

 

“I’m not a weakling!” she said as she drew herself up to her full height, which was still barely past the man’s waist.

 

“Sure, can we get started?” the big man said as he tugged on the black dress vest he was wearing.

 

“Alright, what are the rules?”

 

The man snorted.  “You can use whatever Pokemon you want, it won’t matter,” he said as she started walking backward onto a battlefield. Bayley gritted her teeth and marched off to the far end before turning to face her opponent.

 

A match official approached and, after asking Bayley’s name, began to make the announcement. Bayley Martinez of Pallet Town has challenged Gym Trainer Baron Corbin to a match. Let the battle begin!

 

“Ready to be Baron Corbin’s next victim?” the man asked as he casually underhanded his Pokeball out onto the field. There was a flash of light and a moment later a small Pokemon the resembled one of the targets from a whack-a-mole game appeared.

 

“ _ Diglet!”  _ it declared. Bayley thought for a moment about her options. Diglet was a ground type and Bulbasaur would definitely have an advantage. But, she knew this couldn’t be the gym leader and she wanted her strongest Pokemon well rested for the end game. Nodding to herself she took one of the two Pokeballs at her waist and flung it out onto the field.

 

“Go! Grimer!” Bayley shouted as her Pokemon appeared in a burst of light.

 

“A wad of purple chewing gum huh?” Corbin asked wryly as he looked at Grimer. 

 

“You talk a lot, why don’t you just battle?” Bayley shouted back. TO her intense annoyance, Corbin just chuckled.

 

“Alright, alright, we can do this little girl. In fact, why don’t you just go first?” the large man laughed as he waved Bayley onward.

 

“You mistake,” Bayley said to herself. “Grimer! Use bodyslam! Get on top of Diglet and cover it! Don’t let go!” she shouted.

 

“ _ Grimer!”  _ her Pokemon called as it surged toward Diglet.

 

“Diglet! Dodge it! Head underground!” Corbin shouted. Diglet could pull their heads underground faster than any human could react. However, this Diglet didn’t start moving until Corbin called his instruction. And by then it was too late, Bayley’s speed training already showing well in Grimer. 

 

Her Pokemon dropped heavily down onto Diglet just as they both appeared underground. Neither Bayley or Corbin spoke as the gym descended into silence. The seconds stretched. Then with a rustling sound something purple burst through the ground in the middle of the field. At first, it was hard to identify but then Bayley’s brain caught up and she realized that she was seeing Diglet still being engulfed by Grimer.

 

“That’s it Grimer! Hold on!” Bayley shouted.

 

“Grimer! Shake it off! Use dig!” Corbin roared. Both Pokemon vanished again at this into the burrow. Another long pause. 

 

“Where are you?” Corbin grunted through clenched teeth as he looked around at the field. Bayley too was feeling as anxious as she could ever remember as she hoped Grimer was OK. But just then there was another rumbling sound as the ground burst upward once more. She could see Grimer waving side to side slowly, almost drunkenly. Then a moment later, the Purple ooze Pokemon slide gelatinously to one side revealing the slumped over form of Diglet.

 

“Impossible!” Corbin shouted as she held out his hands in shock.

 

“Not many Pokemon can do much moving with a Grimer draped over their face!” Bayley shouted at him tauntingly. SHe’d been toying with the idea of this strategy since she’d caught Grimer. Wondering what would happen if a Pokemon was forced to try and exert themselves with the extremely toxic and gooey Grimer hanging over their mouth and nose. Now she saw, they passed out.

 

“Diglet is unable to continue battling, Bayley Martinez wins!” the match official shouted. Corbin’s eyes flared at this and he was obviously going to say something else when a deep booming chuckle broke over them.

 

“She out thought you, Corbin,” a voice called from deeper in the gym. It was a voice like grinding rocks and made Bayley think of fairytales about Giants.

 

“She got lucky,” Corbin pouted.

 

“Yeah, a lot of Pallet kids doing that against you lately,” the voice challenged. Corbin looked like he was going to protest but was cut off when the voice said: “Go get your Pokemon down the Poke Center and grab us lunch.”

 

“Yes Mr. Strowman,” Corbin said sulkily before slinking out of the gym, giving Bayley a dirty look as he passed. She returned it but was distracted before she could do anything more.

 

“So...another Pallet kid huh? Getting tired of seeing you lot coming through here,” the voice said before with a loud noise another bank of lights came on in the gym. They illuminated just how big the space actually was. There was whole other, larger, battlefield behind the one that Bayley had just been on. High above Bayley on either side of the room, she saw stands with a handful of observers sitting in them.

 

At the far end of the room, there was a dais, sitting cross-legged on it was the largest man Bayley had ever seen. He had a bushy brown beard, a black tank top that showed arms as big as Bayley’s waist, and camo pants with combat boots. Though his appearance was alarming, he had a smirk on his face. Bayley noted all of this automatically but her mind caught on his words.

 

“You’ve battled other trainers from Pallet?” she asked, forgetting to be intimidated.

 

“Battled and lost to a blonde princess and a little scrapper with purple hair,” the man confirmed as Bayley slowly approached the second field. Even though she didn’t look away Bayley was surprised. That sounded like Charlotte and Sasha for sure.

 

“Well, I hope you’re ready for a hat trick!” Bayley called and then was glad she’d stopped talking when she had. The man stood suddenly and she felt certain her voice would have broken if he’d done so while she’d been speaking. He really was enormous.

 

“You think you’re as good as them huh? Alright, let’s see what you’ve got! You use as many Pokemon as you like. I’ll use two,” the man said as she moved to stand on the far side of the field.

 

“You’re on!” Bayley called back. She was barely listening to the match official make his announcements as she stared at the man. Though she did learn his name was Braun Strowman. She had debated for a moment about using Pidgey but then realized that wasn’t right. There was only one choice to start this off.

 

“Ready for these hands girl?” Strowman called.

 

“You know I am!” she called back.

 

“Alright then! Show me what you got! Go! Graveller!” Strowman shouted as she hurled a Pokeball out onto the floor. A moment later a Pokemon that resembled a large boulder with arms appeared. 

 

“ _ Graveller!”  _ it growled. Unfamiliar with this Pokemon, Bayley dug out her Pokedex and took aim.

 

“ _ Graveller, It grows by feeding on rocks. Apparently, it prefers to eat rocks that are covered in moss. This Pokémon eats its way through a ton of rocks on a daily basis. It is often seen rolling down mountain trails. Obstacles are just things to roll straight over, not avoid.” _

 

As she heard this, Bayley smirked. Reaching up to tighten her ponytail, Bayley pointed and shouted: “Go, Bulbasaur!”

 

“ _ Bulbasaur!”  _ her Pokemon called as she sprinted forward onto the field.

 

“A grass type huh? Don’t think the type advantage will win this for you!” Strowman called. 

 

Ignoring this, Bayley shouted: “Bulbasaur! Vine whip!”

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _ Bulbasaur roared as his vines lashed out of his bulb toward Graveller.

 

“Graveller! Defense curl!” Strowman shouted. At his words, Graveller curled into a tight ball and simply allowed Bulbasaur to slap it’s rocky hide over and over with the vines. 

 

“Grass-type move or not, I think you’ll find Gravellers defense is too strong for any vine whip!” Strowman called to Bayley. 

 

Bayley didn’t answer but just gritted her teeth and said: “Keep at it Bulbasaur! Keep hitting it!” Bulbasaur didn’t answer but just kept hammering away to little effect. After a few moments of this Strowman chuckled.

 

“I hope you had more of a plan than this, otherwise I will finally get to beat a kid from Pallet!” he taunted. But then he faltered as Bayley, who had been looking down, suddenly met his eyes with a grin.

 

“Bulbasaur! Quick! Sleep powder!” she shouted. 

 

“ _ Bulbaaaa!”  _ Bulbasaur cried triumphantly as the golden spores began to pour from his bulb. Strowman knew his danger and tried to counter.

 

“Graveller! Rock throw!” he shouted. But it was too late. Graveller had been progressively tightening its defense curl with each impact of Bulbasaur’s vines. Now that it was time to come out of it it, Graveller lost valuable seconds. Seconds that allowed the sleep powder to do it’s work. Graveller made it to a standing position but Bayley could already see it wobbling. 

 

“Bulbasaur, before it wakes up, headbutt!” Bayley shouted. 

 

“ _ Bulbasaur!”  _ Bulbasaur roared as it sprung toward Graveller moving at breakneck speed. The ensuing impact made Bayley wince, it had to hurt Bulbasaur as well. But it did the trick and sent Graveller bouncing backward.

 

“Now follow it up with Razor Leaf!” Bayley shouted, not wanting to give Graveller a moment to recover. In response, Bulbasaur sent a hail of sharp leaves whirling toward Graveller. Some bounced off, but most struck home. A moment later it was over as Graveller tipped sideways with a loud thud.

 

The match official waited for a moment before he shouted: “Graveller is unable to continue the battle! Bulbasaur wins.”

 

“Awesome work bud!” Bayley shouted to Bulbasaur, who beamed back at her happily.

 

“Nice…” Strowman said ruefully as he returned Graveller to it’s Pokeball. “Well played girl from Pallet town, but you not done with me yet! Go Onix!” he shouted as he hurled a second Pokeball. The Pokemon that emerged from this one was colossal. It seemed to grow and grow until it loomed overhead. 

 

“ _ Roarrrrrrrr!”  _ the huge rock snake growled.

 

“Don’t worry about it Bulbasaur! We’ve got this!” Bayley shouted.

 

“We’ll see about that! Onix! Tail whip!” Strowman shouted. In response, Onix brought its massive tail sweeping along the field.

 

“Bulbasaur! Dodge it!” Bayley shouted. In response, Bulbasaur leaped backward to avoid the first sweep. Then he had to jump clean over the next one. Bulbasaur was facing a problem of space. Onix was so big that when it swept its tale it mostly covered all the space that Bulbasaur might have retreated to. Now, each dodge risked Bulbasaur being forced out of bounds. 

 

Bayley was gritting her teeth, she had to think of a plan and fast.

 

“Bulbasaur! Leech seed!” Bayley shouted.

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _ Bulbasaur cried as he landed and shot several green pods at Onix. All of them landed but Bulbasaur paid for this as Onix’s massive tail sent his rolling to one side. Bayley winced as she watched, she hated seeing Bulbasaur get hurt.

 

Then the idea hit her as she watched Bulbasaur leap out of the way of Onix’s tall once more.

 

“Bulbasaur! Wrap your vines around Onix’s head and pull it down the ground!” Bayley shouted. Bulbasaur, battered as he was, didn't hesitate. He landed on all fours and his vines lashed out at the larger Pokemon. As she’d hoped, Onix’s head was jerked violently downward. Even better, as Onix began to fight this, it forgot to continue its tail whip.

 

“ _ Bulbaaaaaaa,”  _ Bulbasaur grunted with the effort of trying to yank the gigantic Pokemon down to the ground.

 

“Hold on Bulbasaur! Pull it down!” Bayley shouted.

 

“Onix! Quit messing around! Yank that little runt off his feet!” Strowman shouted.

 

“Just hang on Bulbasaur!” Bayley shouted. She was very grateful she’d had Bulbasaur spend so much time strengthening his vines and legs now, otherwise, he’d have never been able to hold Onix down even this long. But even so, this was a losing struggle and she knew it. Bulbasaur was exceptionally strong for his size but there was no way he’d be able to hold Onix down forever.

 

But he didn’t need to.

 

“ENOUGH…” Strowman shouted as he made a cutting gesture with his arm “...Onix yank that Bulbasaur off its feet and swat it out of the air with a tail whip!” Bayley watched as the huge rock Pokemon lowered it’s head, bracing for an explosion of strength that would uproot Bulbasaur in one tug. 

 

“Now Bulbasaur! Use tackle when it lifts its head!” Bayley shouted.

 

“Wha-” Strowman asked, but it was too late. Onix was already shooting upward. As it did, Bulbasaur stopped fighting the larger Pokemon and allowed himself to be yanked upward while simultaneously retracting his vines. All this lead to the smaller Pokemon rocketing upward with far more speed than he could ever have managed on his own. Shooting upward straight toward the underside of Onix’s jaw.

 

Bulbasaur caught the rock Pokemon like the worlds biggest uppercut, slamming Onix’s jaws closed with a huge cracking sound. The giant Pokemon tipped slowly backward, landing with a loud crash that shook the whole gym and threw a huge cloud of dust into the air. Bayley had to shield her eyes even as she coughed violently. But even before the dust had fully cleared she head the blessed word.

 

“Onix is unable to battle, Bulbasaur is the winner! Bayley Martinez from Pallet Town has beaten the Gym Leader, Braun Strowman!”

 

“Bulbasaur! You did it!” Bayley shouted as ran into the dust to where the could dimply see the form of her Pokemon, sitting on his back haunches. She scooped her Pokemon up into a tight hug and swung him back and forth laughing the whole time.

 

“ _ Bulba! Bulba!”  _ Bulbasaur said, clearly elated at Bayley’s happiness even through his obvious fatigue.

 

“I am so proud of you!” Bayley whispered to her Pokemon even as a tear formed in her eye. She probably would have sat there hugging Bulbasaur forever if someone hadn’t cleared their throat behind her. Turning around, Bayley looked up to see Braun Strowman standing nearby, looking down at her with a grin.

 

“Well, that makes me 0/3 against Pallet trainers recently,” He said ruefully. Reaching into his pocket he dug something out and then offered his massive hand to Bayley. Looking down into it Bayley saw the small grey octagon gleaming there. “A boulder badge for you, you’ve earned it!” Strowman said with a smile.

 

Bayley blinked in confusion for a moment, not fully comprehending. She’d done it...she’d actually done it!

 

When she emerged from the gym a few minutes later, Bulbasaur resting in his Pokeball, she literally ran into TJ Perkins.

 

“Oww-, Hey TJ sorry,” she said, still beaming from ear to ear.

 

“Hey...I...I heard that someone saw you go in here so I thought...you look happy,” TJ said, even managing to smile. 

 

Bayley’s smile spread even further as she put an arm around TJ’s shoulders and said: “Let me tell you about the day I’ve had so far.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwwwwwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh are girl did it! 
> 
> (I mean...I wrote the thing and was still on the edge of my seat!)
> 
> Keep the feedback coming in friends! You know I love hearing from you! And make sure to check out all the other works in this series! Would you, or someone you know, like to take over writing Charlotte? Let us know!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9: Team Rocket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and TJ are still in Pewter City after her gym battle when a fun afternoon turns into a dangerous evening.

“You know TJ, I was wrong, that was pretty interesting,” Bayley said as she hitched her thumbs behind her backpack straps and exited the Pewter Museum of Science.

 

Bayley had initially been leery about spending the afternoon there, she’d always been an indifferent science student. Her lack of general interest in the field was enough that she’d thought the place was called the ‘space museum’. But after she’d dropped Bulbasaur and Grimer off at the Pokemon Center she’d been in a very good mood. She’d just won her first Gym Badge after all. So when TJ had suggested that they go, she’d agreed.

 

Still, she hadn’t expected much, she was really just humoring TJ. But she’d been pleasantly surprised by how much fun she’d had. The Museum wasn’t full of old dusty things as Bayley had expected, but instead was a technological marvel with a fascinating wing dedicated entirely to ancient Pokemon. Bayley had completely lost track of time as she’d read display after display on all sorts of pre-historic Pokemon from Kabuto to Amaura.

 

But that had been nothing on what had waited for them on the top floor of the museum. Rather than more hologram displays or fossils, the entire floor had been given over to a series of huge terrariums. Inside each, were real live ancient Pokemon!

 

“You knew I’d love this didn’t you?” Bayley had almost squealed at TJ.

 

“I...guessed…” he murmured as he scratched the back of his head nervously. But Bayley barely noticed this as she had already hurried off into the exhibits.

 

Bayley had been transfixed by what she’d seen. She would never have guessed that only this far into her Pokemon journey she’d get to see Omanyte’s being fed or a whole field of Lileep. The simple knowledge that these Pokemon had originally lived millions of years ago was both sobering and awe-inspiring. She’d been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even realized that they’d stayed right through lunch and into early evening.

 

Now, looking up at the setting sun, she realized that there wouldn’t be much point in them trying to leave the city today. They wouldn’t even make it the base of Mt. Moon before dark, and Bayley wasn’t sure she wanted to try and navigate the countryside at night with TJ. Whom, for as smart as he was, tended to be a bit outdoors challenged.

 

“Want to get some dinner? Then we can go back to the PokeCenter and get some sleep, I think we should try to be on the road early tomorrow,” Bayley said as she and TJ walked.

 

“That sounds good,” TJ said, as usually sounding like he thought Bayley might start shouting at any moment. She turned a quizzical gaze on him for a few moments, which seemed to make him shrink still further.

 

Bayley often found his behavior perplexing, the way they’d parted the first time just being the most blatant. Bayley had grown up in Pallet Town, a small place despite its fame, so she hadn’t had a huge circle of acquaintance. But even within that small sample, she hadn’t ever met someone who was as constantly nervous as TJ. He seemed to be afraid of the world in general.

 

Bayley’s father had always been the model of calm assurance. Charlotte and Sasha could be arrogant but they never really seemed to doubt themselves. While Becky seemed to take for absolute granted that anything that might occur to her could be possible if she worked at it right. Bayley was more cautious than this but she had been told she was very self-assured for a 14-year-old. But, it wasn’t her business to try and ‘fix’ TJ, if he even needed it. He was as he was, and she was her. That was enough for travel companions.  

 

“What do you want to eat?” Bayley asked TJ as they made their way toward a row of restaurants.

 

“Umm...whatever you like,” TJ muttered. Bayley sighed again.

 

“You know, it’s OK if you just share your opinion TJ...I’m not going to get mad or anything,” she assured him. All this got her was a deer in the headlights stare. After a few awkward moments, Bayley cleared her throat and said: “But...burgers sound good right?”

 

“Yeah I-” TJ started to say, but whatever he was going to add was cut off by the sound of a huge explosion behind them. The sound was intense that Bayley winced before turning to see a huge plume of smoke billowing up from behind the Museum they’d just left.

 

“We have to see if anyone’s hurt!” Bayley shouted as she took off toward the building without another seconds delay. As she did she automatically looked down intending to say something to Bulbasaur only to be reminded that he wasn’t there. She only had one Pokemon with her now, so without hesitation, she grabbed the Pokeball off her belt and said: “Go! Pidgey!”

 

“ _Pidgey!”_ the bird Pokemon crowed as she appeared.

 

“Pidgey! I want you to-...” Bayleys said before trailing off. She and TJ had been among the closest people to the museum when the explosion had occurred and not all the people in the area were heading toward the building now. Those that were were all focused, naturally, on the flames and smoke. But Bayley’s eye had fallen on a motion off to her left. A truck was slowly easing its way onto the street from around the side of the museum.

 

Something about it struck Bayley as odd so on an instinct she abruptly changed direction and began to follow the vehicle. She was able to do this because it wasn’t driving very fast, in fact, it seemed to her that the driver was doing all they could to blend into the traffic. Bayley could already hear sirens so she guessed there would be more than enough people rushing to deal with the fire, so she continued to follow the truck.

 

“Where are we going?” TJ asked from beside her.

 

“Were following that truck…” Bayley said as she nodded at the vehicle.

 

“Why?”

 

“Just a hunch, but keep your Pokemon ready,” Bayley said distractedly as she picked up her pace. She’d just see the truck turn off the busy road that ran past the museum. Tj asked something else but Bayley didn’t really hear it as she began to run. By the time she reached the corner however, she just saw the truck disappear down another street. This forced her to run even faster, leaving TJ further behind.

 

Her persistence was rewarded however as she caught a glimpse of the truck pulling into a garage that promptly closed behind it. Bayley stood on the street staring at the garage suspiciously as she caught her breath. Something was off about this whole situation, and Bayley had been raised to trust her instincts.

 

Calling Pidgey back to her she said: “Stay close but keep quiet.” The Pokemon gave her an affirmative nod but didn’t say anything. Bayley jogged across the deserted street and reached the building the truck had vanished into. It seemed to be locked up tight, but Bayley ducked into the alley beside and found a fire escape.

 

Though Bayley felt sure something was off, she didn’t actually know this. If she had, she would have just called the police since that was the sensible way to handle a situation like this. Slowly ascending the escape Bayley kept climbing until she found a window that was partially cracked open. A quick glance through the glass told her that the building was a warehouse and that her window seemed to open onto a raised catwalk. She was trying to gauge if she’d be able to pull the window open when she heard voices drifting up from inside the warehouse.

 

“-A bad idea Peyton!”

 

“Oh relax Billie, no one is going to think to look for them here, they’ll be watching the roads in and out of Pewter,” a woman’s voice answered. It took Bayley a moment to realize that the two speakers had Australian accents.

 

“This is a stupid risk!” ‘Billie’ answered her friend. Bayley, who had ducked down below the window on first hearing the voices, now peeked over the edge once again. It was hard to see but she got the impression of two dark-haired women facing each other on the floor of the warehouse.

 

“You won’t be complaining when Alexa gives us that big promotion!” ‘Peyton’ said in a huff as she started to turn away.

 

“We won’t be getting any bloody promotion if we don’t get these fossils to her!” Billie protested. Bayley’s head spun at this. Fossils? Had these two taken fossils from the museum?” That settled things for Bayley as she dug her phone out of her pocket and began to dial the police. Then something disastrous happened.

 

“BAYLEY?!” a familiar voice called from back on the street. Bayley jumped so much that she very nearly dropped her phone off the fire escape. Then mind registered what she’d heard and her heart sank. The voice was TJ’s and he was right outside the warehouse.

 

“Oh no, no, no…” she whispered to herself. Silently willing the boy to keep on walking.

 

“BAYLEY?! ARE WE STILL CHASING THAT TRUCK?” TJ shouted, making Bayley cringe.

 

“What the hell?” came a question from inside the warehouse. Bayley doubted TJ could hear it, but the voice drifted up to her clearly.

 

“Go check it out!” Peyton snapped. There was a pause that seemed to go on forever.

 

“It’s just some kid!” Billie said eventually, sounding disgusted.

 

“Well go out there and take him out, we need to move the truck again!” Peyton hissed back. A moment later Bayley heard the garage door opening.

 

“Hey! You!” she heard Billie shouting even as she began to hurry down the fire escape.

 

“M-Me?” she heard TJ ask, sounding terrified.

 

“Yeah, you! You’re dead!” Billie shrieked. A moment later Bayley heard the pop of a Pokeball opening and then Billie shouting: “Weedle! Go! Poison sting!”

 

“TJ! JUMP!” Bayley shouted in desperation, knowing she wouldn’t reach the street in time. She was banking on two things. First, that Billie didn’t have some kind of giant Weedle, which would mean the Pokemon would likely be charging toward TJ’s calf. The second was that TJ could clear a one foot vertical. It turned out she was right on both counts, though only barely on the second.

 

By the time she regained the street, she found TJ sprawled on the sidewalk, groaning, next to a bemused looking Weedle. SHe also got a first look at Billie for the first time. Bayley guessed the other girl was maybe 17 or 18 and very pretty, though she was wearing a nasty expression that Bayley recognized all too well from Charlotte Flair.

 

“Who the hell are you?” Billie demanded.

 

“Back off!” Bayley shouted in response.

 

“I don’t have time for this,” Billie said in annoyance as she pointed at Bayley and said: “Weedle-”

 

But Bayley cut her off asking: “You know what birds eat right?”

 

“Wha-”

 

“Pidgey! Peck!” Bayley shouted a tan blur flashed down out of the sky and then with a thud, Weedle was sent reeling backward.

 

“You little!” Billie said with an affronted expression on her face. But before she could speak again another voice shouted.

 

“Bellsprout! Razor leaf!” Bayley had only a moment to react as familiar looking green shards sped out of the garage.

 

“Pidgey! Precision flying!” she shouted to her Pokemon.

 

Pidgey had spent hours training with Bayley and her other Pokemon. One of the most common drills was her dodging Bulbasaur’s razor leaf. The practice showed through now as these leaves seemed to be moving in slow motion compared to Pidgey. Bayley’s Pokemon easily avoided them all.

 

“Pidgey, Sand attack!” Bayley cried before averting her eyes and hurrying over to where RJ was still on the ground. As she did she heard and felt the huge cloud of sand being kicked up by Pidgey and then directed at the garage. She also heard indignant coughing and shouting from the direction of the building.

 

Upon reaching TJ she knelt and asked: “Are you OK?”

 

“Yeah…” TJ groaned.

 

“Good, cause I could really use some help here!” Bayley said as she shot a hurried glance through the cloud of sand.

 

“Weedle!...” she heard Billie shout “...String shot! Tie up that damn pigeon!”

 

“Pidgey! Fly high and avoid it!” Bayley shouted as she shook TJ again. “Come on TJ!” she shouted.

 

“ _Pidgey!”_ came the confirmation, but Bayley didn’t have much time to think because she heard Peyton shouting now.

 

“Bellsprout, leech seed!”

 

“Keep dodging Pidgey!” Bayley called. The sand cloud still hadn’t fully cleared but she heard the fast approaching footsteps and then saw the two older girls charge out of the cloud a moment later. They glared at Bayley and she had no doubt what was on their mind.

 

“Come here you little bitch!” Billie snarled as Bayley quickly dodged to one side to avoid her punch. She then had to hop backward to avoid a kick from Peyton.

 

“Keep dodging Pidgey!” Bayley shouted, without taking her eyes off of the other girls. She managed to duck under another punch and to roll away from a fourth but she knew this couldn’t last. “Anytime now TJ!” she shouted.

 

Then there was another explosion.

 

Bayley was sent flying through the air, landing a few feet from where she’d left her feet and rolling still further. The breath was driven out of her and all she could do when she finally stopped rolling was to lay there on her back, coughing. Then she realized that while she could feel herself coughing, she could only dimly hear it over a huge ringing in her ears. On top of this, her vision was blurry.

 

She had no idea how long she was laying there on the street until she felt a pressure on her chest. Looking up she found herself staring into the face of Pidgey. Though it was hard to tell through her fuzzy vision she guessed that the Pokemon looked concerned.

 

“Hey there girl,” Bayley said in a voice she felt more than heard.

 

“ _Pidgey?”_

 

“I don’t…” Bayley started to answer but then she was overcome with a coughing fit. This lasted for a while until a new sound did manage to penetrate through her shattered hearing.  She didn’t know what it was at first, just that it was getting louder and louder. But then, she placed it. Sirens.

 

Ten minutes later Bayley sitting on the bumper of an ambulance, her face being scrubbed by a paramedic. Her hearing had mostly cleared by now and her vision was fully restored. Sitting beside her was TJ Perkins, who was holding a Pokeball in both hands.

 

“He did really good,” Bayley said with a small smile as she put a hand on TJ’s shoulder.

 

It turned out the explosion had actually been TJ’s help. Seeing the trouble Bayley and Pidgey were in he’d released his Magnemite and promptly told it to use self-destruct. This had not only had to effect of ending the battle but had also worked as a beacon to draw help to them. Which had, apparently, been his plan.

 

Unfortunately, it seemed that the two older girls, Peyton and Billie, had escaped with their Pokemon. But they hadn’t been able to take their truck so all the fossils were safe. Officer Victoria had already taken their statements about this and had accepted their version of events. Now they were just being cleaned up before they went back to the Pokemon Center.

 

“Thanks,” TJ said in reply to her comment.

 

“Seriously, both of you did,” Bayley told him again, finally drawing a smile from him. It seemed TJ had come through for her, and she guessed that might make him some kind of friend. She liked the idea of traveling with one for a while.

 

“Excuse me, kids,” a woman asked as she approached them.

 

“Yes?” Bayley asked as TJ looked down at his Pokeball.

 

“Would you mind if I took your picture, we’re going to put it in the paper,” she said as she lifted her camera for emphasis.

 

“Ummmmmm I...I’ve never done that…” TJ said sheepishly as he blushed beet red.

 

“You’ll get used to it,” Bayley said wryly.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep Bayley's Pokemon journey, alive friends! I'm powered by your awesome feedback! Tell me what you think and I may even toss out some teasers...
> 
> What did you think of today's chapter? Bayley and TJ seem to be hitting it off right? Though it seems Bayley is the only one who doesn't get what TJ's deal is haha. I think we all know that this won't be the last we see of Team Rocket, but will they be even more dangerous next time? 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 8: Trouble in Mt. Moon pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and TJ begin their trip through Mt. Moon, but the journey does not go smoothly.

“Oh no!” Bayley said dejectedly as she stared ahead. The Mt. Moon Gondolas Western Terminal stood before her and TJ. Bayley had initially been planning to simply hike the tunnel underneath the mountain, but in the day it had taken them to reach it, TJ had talked non-stop about the gondola and how amazing it was. So much so that Bayley had eventually relented to his enthusiasm and agreed to take the ride.

 

But now, seeing the darkened terminal she was felt a sudden wash of disappointment that surprised her given that she hadn’t wanted to take the lift initially. She and TJ slowly approached the gate until they could read the sign affixed to it.

 

_ “Mt. Moon Gondolas temporarily out of service, we apologize for the inconvenience.” _

 

“Awww I was really excited for that,” Bayley said as she looked up at the line of towers running up the mountainside.

 

“Me too...weird though, as far as I know, the Mt. Moon Gondolas have never failed before,” TJ said, sounding perplexed. Bay shrugged but accepted his words as gospel. TJ knew an immense amount about electronics and vehicles, so if he said something on either she tended to believe him.

 

Bayley sighed then and touched TJ shoulder before pointing toward the Pokemon Center in the distance. “We might as well get there quick, rest our Pokemon, and then get hiking. They say you can get through the mountain in less than a day if you move quick.”

 

“OK,” TJ said, sounding dejected. Bayley guessed that, in addition to his disappointment over the gondola, he was dreading the hiking. TJ was not much of an outdoorsmen and caves didn’t enthuse him much.

 

Truth be told, they didn't much enthuse Bayley either. She wasn’t claustrophobic, but she did like to see the sky over her head. The idea of walking through an extremely long tunnel wasn’t thrilling. But, she consoled herself with the thought that she could see and maybe catch some new Pokemon. 

 

They only about an hour at the Pokemon Center. Bayley had insisted on Bulbasaur and Pidgey that they ride in their Pokeballs for the morning leg of their journey. They hadn’t been happy but they’d acknowledged her argument that they would need to be fully rested to attempt the tunnel. Implicit, though unstated, in this argument was that Bayley really them both at her side when she had to brave the cave.

 

In the past, Bayley knew, the entrance to Mt. Moon tunnel had been located in the rockface outside of the Pokemon Center. But over the years the building had expanded so much that entrance was now contained within it. As Bayley and TJ walked through the building toward the tunnel mouth, they passed rows of smalls stalls and shops selling various items. Some of these were souvenirs but most were items designed to help with the cave. Yet most of these businesses were shuddered and dark, Bayley remembered then that the ones outside on the way to the Pokemon Center had also been closed. Looking around she saw that only one in every four lights seemed to be on within the center. Strange. 

 

Still, they eventually one that was open and Bayley used some of the money her father had put on her card to buy a crank operated backup flashlight, batteries for her main flashlight, a water filter, and multi-tool. She had a pocket knife of course, but the new addition would allow her to do more. She was about to leave when she saw that TJ was hovering nervously among the racks.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

 

“I...I don’t know what to get…” TJ admitted, sounding very abashed by the fact. Bayley frowned, did TJ not know what was in his own pack? Then, reflecting on all she knew about the boy, she had to concede that it was very possible he didn’t. In fact, she hadn’t seen him produce much more than spare bits of electronics and some food from inside it.

 

“Can I see inside your pack?” Bayley asked gently. TJ flushed but shrugged it off and set it on the ground. Bayley knelt and peered inside. What she saw almost made her hang her head. There was almost nothing in it BUT electronic components, food, and some clothes. As far as practical items TJ seemed to be limited to a water bottle, sleeping bag, small pup tent, and flashlight. “Oh boy,” she said quietly as she straightened. 

 

“So...what do I need?” TJ asked. Bayley had no idea where to begin answering that question. In the end, she had him buy a first-aid kit, matches, pocket knife, rope, and a whistle. The last thing was very important in her mind, the best thing TJ could do if there were in some kind of trouble would probably be to summon help. But with this new knowledge of just how unprepared her companion was, Bayley bought herself some more food and basic medicines.

 

“OK...” she finally said, trying to sound confident “...Are you ready to go?” 

 

“I think?” TJ said nervously. He was obviously still acutely feeling the embarrassment of Bayley having to pack for him.

 

“We’ll be fine,” Bayley said encouragingly. She wasn’t that worried, the route was well traveled so even if they got in trouble it was unlikely that they wouldn’t be able to find help. 

 

Oh, the things you wish you hadn’t ever thought.

 

Bayley’s hand gave a tiny quiver as they marched toward the entrance to the cave. She frowned at this, why would she want to be holding TJ’s hand? He wasn’t a baby. And in any case, there was a small trickle of people coming both in and out of the cave. So she squared her shoulders, slid her thumbs behind her pack straps, and began walking. 

 

Bayley knew that the interior of Mt. Moon was, in fact, cavernous. One could spend weeks walking through its many tunnels, but the path to Cerulean was nearly a straight shot. As they walked further into the cave, Bayley felt herself relaxing more and more. The path had been worn smooth by generations of travelers and someone had installed lights at intervals. Not only this, but there were occasionally benches and even small terminals with maps on them. Inevitably, many of these had been vandalized but most were still functioning.

 

Someone had even gone so far as to label certain areas off the trail where wild Pokemon were known to congregate. She thought it might interesting to go visit one at some point, but not this early in the trip. She wanted to put some miles behind her and TJ. The last sign she’d read told her it would take close to nine hours to reach their destination, and that would leave them exiting the cave not far from sunset.

 

Bayley enjoyed chatting as much as anyone, maybe more so as she was a very social girl. But TJ seemed to cover his perpetual nervousness with a flow of chatter and she had to admit that sometimes she missed the silence of traveling alone. But she didn’t let this ruin her routine. The first thing she did when they’d gone a little way into the cave was to find a rock for herself and Bulbasaur. She would have liked to have Pidgey out but there wasn’t a ton of room overhead. 

 

“You should carry one TJ, it might be good for you and your Pokemon,” she said cheerfully. Bayley herself hadn’t been carrying rocks very long but she could already feel the effects, she was carrying much heavier rocks than she had at first. This went double for Bulbasaur, the Pokemon was looking positively bulky with the new muscle he’d put on.

 

“I’ll...I’ll think about it,” TJ said awkwardly, this suggestion was enough to quiet his flow of chatter at least. They walked on in silence for a while before Bayley broke it.

 

“So, where are you from TJ?” she asked.

 

“What?”

 

“Where are you from?” Bayley asked again, confused as to how the question hadn’t made sense.

 

“Oh...umm I’m from a small town on the sea called Magenta Harbor. It’s about an hour from Vermillion,” he explained.

 

“That’s cool, I haven’t heard of it. Are your parents there?” Bayley asked.

 

This small opening was enough to get TJ talking, and the more he did the more comfortable he got. Bayley learned that while his parents fished for their living, he’d always been far more interested in computers. Had he not chosen to begin his Pokemon journey he’d been considering going to school to become a programmer. Might still in fact.

 

Bayley listened and offered some details about herself in return. She told TJ about growing up in Pallet town, and who her father was. She usually reserved this detail for after she knew people well since she knew from experience that it could change how people treated her. Yet it seemed TJ didn’t even know who Eddie Guerrero was. Which, in an odd way, was kind of a relief.

 

They then shifted to discussing their childhoods. Bayley found herself listening more than talking now, and the more she did the more forcibly she was reminded of someone. TJ describing a mostly solitary existence spent nose deep in his electronics was almost exactly how Bayley’s friend, Becky Lynch, spent most of her time. Though in Becky’s case it would have been her inventions.

 

She smiled inwardly at this, she couldn’t wait for them to meet. She thought the two would really hit it off. 

 

They chatted happily until they broke for lunch, it was hard to judge when to do this without the benefit of the sun. The constant gloom around them really threw off a lot of their perceptions. But they did eventually sit and eat, letting out their Pokemon as they did. During this time Bayley took a book out of her bag and read quietly while TJ fiddled with a ball of wires and circuits. 

 

They rested for an hour before they started moving again, as they walked they came upon other people only infrequently. Sometimes in small groups others by themselves, but mostly they walked alone. They were doing this still when Bulbasaur suddenly stopped in his tracks. 

 

“ _ Bulba?”  _ he suddenly said, sounding very alert.

 

“What is it?” Bayley asked him. She knelt beside her Pokemon and noted immediately how rigid he had gone. Bulbasaur looked as though he might spring at any moment. But she and TJ had fallen silent and now they could hear something. A small kind of warbling coming from far off to the right. Turning to look in that direction, Bayley saw nothing but an endless stretch of shadows, stalagmites, and stalactites. But then the sound came again, clearer now that she was focusing on it.

 

“What is it?” TJ whispered.

 

“I have no idea…” Bayley said as she thought. While she wasn’t sure about anything she thought it MIGHT be the sound of someone in pain. And if that was the case, she had to help. But how should she do that? She thought hard for a moment before she had an idea. Dropping her pack, she opened it and drew out her rope, without wasting a second she began tying it around her waist. When she’d done she put her pack back on.

 

“What are you-?” TJ started to ask.

 

“Stay here….” Bayley cut him off as she tied the rope around a stalagmite “...I’m going to go see what it is. Watch the rope, if I start tugging on it then I need you to come to get me.”

 

“Should we just both go?” TJ asked, sounding nervous.

 

Bayley shook her head saying: “No, I need you here in case someone else comes along, we might need their help.” With that, she brought out her flashlight and shown it out ahead of her. Off the path, the cave floor was much less smooth so she made slower progress. Worse, the rock was very wet, so the risk of a potential ankle twisting slip was ever present. It felt like it took a very long time to go anywhere and, indeed, when she first looked back she saw that the light on the path was only about fifty yards behind her.

 

But she was definitely hearing the sound more clearly now, and it did sound like someone moaning loudly in pain. “Still with me buddy?” Bayley asked Bulbasaur. She was slightly out of breath, though she wasn’t sure if this more to do with the walk or her nervousness. She knew that the further you got from the path the more likely you were to stumble upon a wild Pokemon. And if one jumped out at her now, it might cause her to slip.

 

Bayley was so focused on this possibility that she never saw the drop. 

 

One moment she was creeping along, sense on high alert as she looked around for any sign of movement. Then her foot found nothing but space under it and her whole world lurched. She gasped as she tipped forward but this cut off as the air was driven out of her body as she hit the unforgiving stone beneath her. She was aware of her body beginning to slide downward and then began to roll. Worse, she bounced she went, and Bayley heard several uncomfortable popping noises as she went. 

 

When she finally came to stop she let out a long low whimper of pain. She couldn’t see anything, the whole world was dark around her. Despite this, she could feel that she was suddenly wet all over, and some of it was hot moisture. Worse, every time she breathed, he ribs exploded into a fireball of pain. But even as she tried to think about this, her head would buzz and her thoughts would pop into fresh stabs of agony.

 

She was alone, badly injured, lost in the dark.

 

And she had no idea what had happened to Bulbasaur.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back Poke fans! Bayley is in some trouble, isn't she? How will she get out of it? TJP to the rescue? Something else? Stay tuned!
> 
> Don't forget! Comments, kudos, and bookmarks!


	11. Chapter 11: Trouble in Mt. Moon Pt II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley finds herself in a desperate situation, how will she get out of it?

Bayley Martinez let out a small cough, as she did she felt something fly out of her mouth. This alone would be enough to make Bayley feel the icy grip of panic. But today the only thing she felt was a supernova of agony that blossomed in her ribs and chest. The small part of her mind that remained analytical told her she probably had cracked or broken ribs. 

 

She tried to look down to see but that little motion of her neck was enough to send her body screaming at her to desist immediately. She complied immediately, though she noted in the back of her mind that she could at least move and feel her legs.

 

Good though this news was, it wasn’t much comfort at the moment. Bayley knew that she hurt very badly and what was worse, she didn’t even really know where she was. Just that she had fallen down some kind of slope within Mt. Moon. She tried to lift her arm to jerk on the rope still tied around her waist, the agreed signal that would bring TJ to assist her. But she found that this movement hurt even more than her ribs.

 

She closed her eyes and groaned, her arm was probably broken then. While she was very grateful to her father for teaching her first aid, it was also proving to be something of a curse as she had a very good idea of how bleak her situation was. She let out another pained whimper as a fresh flare of pain pulsed through her ribs.

 

Then something occurred that made Bayley jump, an act that made her want to howl in agony. Yet she held it in for one important reason.

 

She heard a voice.

 

“Hello?” a voice called from somewhere off to Bayley’s left. 

 

For a moment Bayley considered the possibility that she might be hallucinating. Not only did it seem impossible that there would somehow be another person in whatever hole she’d fallen down, but because the voice had an Australian accent. Then she recalled the reason why she’d left the path in the first place. She’d heard a strange sound that had sounded like groaning.

 

“Hello? Is someone there?” the voice repeated, now sounding much more desperate. 

 

“Yes,” Bayley tried to call back, but instead she just ended up in a fit of racking, and agonizing, coughing.

 

“Oh thank God!” Bayley heard the voice say over her coughing. 

 

“I don’t know if we should be too thankful about this situation,” she grunted when she finally stopped coughing.

 

“At least I’m not alone down here anymore,” the voice answered. Bayley guessed she was speaking to a girl about her own age judging by the sound.

 

“Well...glad I could help,” Bayley said dryly. There came the sound of some pained laughter.

 

“Please...don’t make me laugh, it hurts,” the voice said. There was a short pause before it said: “Tenille Dashwood, nice to kind of meet you.”

 

“Bayley Martinez...likewise,” Bayley said as she tried to force some calm into her mind. The conversation was actually helping this process. But with more control came a sudden, gut-wrenching realization. “Bulbasaur?” Bayley called, forgetting her injuries in her panic and paying for it instantly.

 

“ _ Bulbaaaa…”  _ came the weak reply from near her feet.

 

“Hey buddy, are you OK?”  Bayley asked.

 

“ _ Bulbasaurrrrrr…”  _ the reply had a decided negative tone. 

 

“Hang in there, we’ll get out of this,” Bayley tried to reassure him, which was hard because she didn’t know how they would manage that.

 

“Is your Pokemon alright?” Tenille called from the darkness.

 

“I think so,” Bayley answered, though she had no way of knowing. She was mostly trying to reassure Bulbasaur. “I don’t suppose you have any Pokemon who could give us some light?” Bayley asked.

 

“My Electabuzz...but I lost my Pokeballs when I fell,” Tenille said, even through the pain in her voice Bayley could detect the profound dejection she was feeling.

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them,” Bayley tried to reassure her.

 

“How?” Tenille asked, and there a definite choke in her voice. “They’re my friends and...what if...what if they are stuck in their Pokeballs…” she trailed off, leaving unspoken what that could mean.

 

“No!...” Bayley said, too forcibly because it hurt her ribs “...We WILL find them, my friend is still up there and he’ll come to help us.” Bayley said this as though it were an absolute certainty, though in truth wasn’t so sure. TJ’s heart was in the right place but Bayley wasn’t sure he’d do well in this kind of situation.

 

“Does he know we’re down here?” Tenille asked in a small voice.

 

“He...will…” Bayley said hesitantly. How she was supposed to communicate to TJ was something that was stumping her. The signal of tugging on the rope was going to be tricky without her being able to lift her right arm or roll over. Besides that, it would depend on TJ paying close attention to the rope, and Bayley had to admit that he was unfortunately absent-minded. 

 

She also considered the idea of using Pidgey to alert TJ but that had its own problems. First, how was the bird Pokemon going to see anything to fly out of the hole Bayley and Tenille were in. And even if she did make it out to reach TJ, Bayley couldn’t shout and she didn’t think having TJ blundering after her would end well. 

 

“You don’t sound that confident,” Tenille said. There was no accusation in her voice, more resignation.

 

“TJ is...not the best in a crisis,” Bayley said lamely, trying to balance loyalty to her friend against the truth.

 

“Well...while you work on our brilliant escape plan...want to talk?” Tenille asked.

 

“Sure,” Bayley said as she tried to think of any sort of plan, brilliant or otherwise. To buy herself time she asked: “How did you end up down here?”

 

“I was chasing a Paras, never saw the drop,” Tenille said ruefully. There was a pause where it seemed that she was brooding before she asked: “What about you?”

 

“I thought I heard someone in pain down here, I had to come and check,” Bayley admitted.

 

“Well...thanks, that was sweet I guess…” Tenille said. Bayley actually felt herself flush at this but chose to move past it.

 

“So how long have you been a trainer?” she asked, hoping to cover her embarrassment. 

 

“Less than a year here, two back home,” Tenille answered, Bayley, assumed that home meant Australia. “What about you?” the other girl asked.

 

“A few weeks,” Bayley admitted. It was strange to admit that out loud. It felt like she’d been on her own for a much longer now. The time she’d spent with her Pokemon had been the best of her life, and it was almost like everything that had come before belonged to another lifetime. She was also a little sheepish about admitting her relative inexperience to someone like Tenille.

 

“Well I hope most of it has gone better than this,” Tenille said before giving a painful grunt. It was obvious that the older girl was in a tremendous amount of pain. Bayley decided then that the best thing she could right now was to try and distract her.

 

So they talked.

 

They swapped stories at first, talking about Pokemon they’d caught or wanted to catch. Then about battles, though Bayley really only had one worth talking about. The whole time they had this exchange Bayley was trying to figure out how they might get out of their predicament. Then a lightbulb went off in Bayley’s head.

 

Tenille had just said: “I hope I’ll still get the chance to see some rare Pokemon.” Her voice was regretful but it was enough. Something that Bayley should have thought of before blossomed in her mind. But now that she was thinking of it, she wasn’t sure if it could work. Not even sure that ‘it’ was something she could do.

 

“Mew?” she whispered into the darkness.

 

She waited with bated breath.

 

Nothing happened. She tried again, saying: “Mew.” She said it more loudly this time, but still...nothing happened.

 

“Bayley?” Tenille called from the darkness. But Bayley didn’t answer, she was waiting and hoping. She did this for almost a full minute until she sighed. There would be no ex-machina for her, if they got out of this it would be on their own.

 

“I’m here,” Bayley said with a sigh, she was sad that there would be no rescue. And scared about what she knew she had to do.

 

“Bulbasaur?” she asked, squeezing her eyes shut as she did. This was going to hurt.

 

“ _ Bulba?”  _ came the weak reply.

 

“Can you...can you extend your vines?” she asked, in a tiny voice.

 

_ “Bulbasaur,”  _ the reply had an affirmative note in it. She’d known it would, Bulbasaur would never back down from a challenge.

 

Bayley sniffed as a tear ran out of the corner of her eye. “Can you extend them and find my...my right arm?” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. 

 

“What are you doing?” Tenille asked, sensing something big was about to happen.

 

“Just...if you can yell, be ready to...when TJ gets here we need to warn him about the drop-off,” Bayley said as she felt the first small touches of the tips of Bulbasaurs vines on her arm. Even these small touches were enough to make her whimper. And that fact made her more scared then ever, yet she knew if she didn’t act now she never would. “Bulbasaur? Wind them...wind them around my arm light and when I say go...you...you pull them as tight as you can.”

 

“ _ Bulba!”  _ Bulbasaur said, startled. 

 

“Bayley!” Tenille said sharply, they’d talked about their probable injuries.

 

“DO IT BULBASAUR! And Just be ready!” Bayley snarled, an act that made her want to cry in itself. Breathing fast and shallow as she felt the vines enclosing her arm. The tears were coming fast now as Bayley squeezed her eyes shut and said: “NOW!”

 

The agony that blasted through every cell in her body when Bulbasaur cinched the vines taut was almost enough to make Bayley blackout. Yet, even through that, some small part of her brain was wondering if she would just die from it. But she held on to one small goal, she HAD to jerk the rope. Of course, none of this prevented her from giving a blood-curdling banshee scream of pure anguish.

 

She tugged on the rope for all she was worth for as long as she could. But eventually, she had to let it drop and slumped, lost in a sea of pain and only dimly aware of the world around her. She thought she heard someone shouting her name at one point, then Bulbasaur’s concerned growling, then more voices she didn’t know. Time seemed to be moving strangely.

 

Things only began to resolve back into a recognizable form when she opened her eyes after not remember closing them. She was looking up at a bright light and laying on something soft and warm. Why was that feeling wrong in her head? It took her a few moments to remember, they couldn’t still be in the cave.

 

“Doctor? She’s awake,” she heard another voice say. This one was coming from right next to her, and it was very familiar. Blinking rapidly Bayley tried to turn her head and found that her neck was extremely stiff. But she forced it to move until she could see the person next to her.

 

“ _ Hola bateadora,”  _ her father told her with a big grin as he took her hand. “I am so proud of you,” Before Bayley could respond another voice she knew broke in on her.

 

“Yeah, I think this means we’re friends now,” Tenille Dashwood said as she moved to stand beside Bayley’s father.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA! How many of you were expecting a Mew ex-machina? 
> 
> I admit I entertained the idea. But I decided that it felt lazy, besides...badass Bayley is better right?
> 
> I hope you're liking this series if you are please consider leaving some feedback! Kudos are great, comments are amazing, and bookmarks make us best friends!
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	12. Chapter 12: Bayley, Becky, and Sasha

**Please visit the work entitled: "The Horsewomen of Pokemon: The Horsewomen" (also part of this series) for Chapter 11.**


	13. Chapter 13: On the road again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and her friends are finally ready to leave Cerulean City, but after a big win, they decide a break might be in order.

“Ivysaur! Use stun spore! Cover the water!” Bayley shouted from where she stood in the challenger's position at the Cerulean City gym.

 

Bayley had already defeated Brie and Nikki Bella’s Staryu, Horsea, and Starmie. The only thing standing between Bayley and her Cascade Badge was a pesky Dewgong. And it seemed Bella’s one remaining Pokemon was not going to go down quietly. The twins had sent it diving toward the bottom of the deep pool, effectively hiding it from Bayley’s view. But she wasn’t going to just sit by.

 

“Pidgey! Keep a lookout and tell Ivysaur if you see Dewgong! Ivysaur, stay ready!” Bayley called. Pidgey, like many birds, had exceptional vision and she meant to use that to her advantage.

 

Bayley saw Bella’s exchange a glance before turning back to face her. Evidently, they hadn’t dealt with this strategy before. Bayley had guessed that they preferred to conduct their gym battles as 2 v 2 affairs because it would wrong foot many trainers. Bayley wasn't used to it, but she often trained all three of her Pokemon at once so she was used to thinking of ways to use them together. Her hope was that by coating the water’s surface in stun spore that it would effect Dewgong whenever it had to surface. 

 

And it would have to surface. It might have been aquatic but Dewgong was a mammal, it didn’t have gills. Bayley knew this, and she assumed the twins did too. She could see them having a whispered consultation across the pool. Bayley was tense, waiting to see what they might do. 

 

“Dewgong can stay underwater for up to 20 minutes! You think you’ll be able to keep your nerve for that long?” Nikki, the one in the hat, taunted Bayley.

 

“I won’t have to!” Bayley shot back with a grin, she’d just had an idea. “Ivysaur! Return!” Bayley called. 

 

“ _ Ivysaur?”  _ her Pokemon asked, stunned. He loathed being pulled from a fight, but he obeyed nonetheless. 

 

“Trust me buddy,” Bayley to him before taking a Pokeball from her back and tossing it out onto the platform in front of her. “Go! Stinky!” she shouted.

 

“Stinky?” the twins asked disgusted expressions on their face.

 

“ _ GRIMER!”  _ Stinky called as he appeared.

 

“Stinky! Use sludge! Right into the pool!” Bayley shouted.

 

_ “GRIMERRRRRRR,”  _ Stinky acknowledged as he proceeded to...well, there was only one word for it, ‘vomit’ into the pool. A thick stream of purple gunk that Bayley was very toxic. 

 

“Pidgey! Use sand attack! Right into the water like Grimer!” 

 

Pidgey did as she was told and began flapping up a large cloud of dust and sand and directing it directly into the water below. Already the one idyllic looking pool was looking noticeably darker and dirtier. Bayley also thought it was starting to smell.

 

“Ewwww!” Brie Bella squealed as she looked at what was happening to her pool. But if it was bad for her and her sister, Bayley couldn’t imagine what it was like for Dewgong who had to swim in it. It only took another minute or so, but eventually, the beautiful seal-like Pokemon was forced to burst of the water, flopping onto the edge of the pool. Bayley felt a pang for it but she knew this was a battle.

 

“Pidgey!, use peck!” she ordered. With a screech, the flying type flashed down out of nowhere and proceeded to begin barraging Dewgong with its sharp beak. This close to water, Pidgey would normally have had a tough time with Dewgong. But the other Pokemon was obviously still suffering the effects of having swum in a swamp of toxic mud.

 

“Dewgong!” Brie shouted she looked horrified.

 

“Stinky! Use sludge bomb!” Bayley cried, sensing the victory was near. 

 

“ _ GRIMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”  _ Stinky shouted as a huge globulous blob of purple muck arced through the air. It seemed to move very slowly as all eyes followed it. The blob ended with a loud splat, coating Dewgong’s pristine white coat. 

 

“ _ Gonggggggggggggggg!”  _ Dewgong yelped. It was over. Coated in poison, assailed from above, Dewgong was done. 

 

“Dewgong, return!” Nikki Bella shouted as she lifted the pokemon’s Pokeball. As Dewgong vanished in red light, the PA boomed.

 

“ _ Dewgong is unable to battle, the winner is Bayley Martinez!” _

 

Fifteen minutes later, Bayley was standing in front of the gym with Tenille and TJ on either side of her. Facing her were both Bella twins. Both women were smiling ruefully but it was Nikki who handed over a gleaming blue badge in the shape of a drop of water.  

 

“This is for you...a cascade badge! You earned it, we’ve never had anyone win in such an inventive way before,” Nikki said as she shook Bayley’s hand.

 

“Sorry about your pool…” Bayley said sheepishly.

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get it clean soon,” Brie put in with a laugh.

 

“Are you heading to another gym now?” Nikki asked.

 

“We’re not sure yet,” Bayley admitted.

 

“Well, if you’re ever in Azuretown maybe you can use these,” Nikki said as she took four small pieces of paper out of her pocket and handed them to Bayley. Looking down she saw they were tickets to something called “P1 Grand Prix: Battlefield”.

 

“What is that?” Bayley asked, nodding at the picture on the ticket.

 

“It’s a fighting pokemon wrestling show, not our thing at all, but they keep sending us tickets hoping we’ll head over. Maybe someday, but I figured you three might like the” Nikki said. 

 

“Thanks,” Bayley said as she put the tickets away. She didn’t know if they’d be in Azuretown but if they were it might be fun. They then bid the Bellas farewell before heading off. Both Bayley and Tennille had won Cascade badges so the group was in a very good mood. TJ hadn’t challenged.

 

“You need to get your Magnemite some work TJ,” Tenille said.

 

“I will,” TJ responded, though his tone made Bayley privately doubt this. But she knew how uncomfortable the conversation would be for him so she interjected.

 

“Where are we headed now, guys?” 

 

“Are you sure you’re arm is up to travel?” Tenille asked.

 

After the incident at the gym with Cerulean Bayley had been forced to spend another two days in the hospital. Fortunately, she hadn’t done any lasting damage to her arm so the extra recuperation had been enough to nearly complete the healing process. The downside to this was that Becky and her friend Finn had left town before Bayley had been out of the hospital. Bayley was sad that they hadn’t been able to say good-bye, her friend hadn’t left her empty-handed

 

In addition to a typically awkward but sweet note of goodbye, Becky had left another gift for Bayley at the nurse's station. It looked like a wristwatch with an unusually large face, though it had hands or even a digital clock on it. Instead, it was a simple black screen with a ring of small lights around the outside. Becky’s note had actually been far more instructions than goodbye, she’d tried to explain how it worked but the science talk had slid right through Bayley’s mind. All she’d gleaned was that it would beep if a Pokemon of sufficient power was nearby and that the lights would indicate it’s direction.

 

However it worked, or even if it didn’t, Bayley was very grateful to her friend for the hard work. It was incredible that Becky had managed to put this together so quickly. She looked down at it now, strapped to her wrist, and couldn’t help but smile. Becky had always been better with gestures than words, and this was classic Becky.

 

“I think it will be fine,” she finally answered Tenille.

 

“In that case…” the Australian girl said eagerly “...I have an idea”

 

“Tell me,” Bayley said.

 

“Why don’t we go to Beck’s bay?” Tenille suggested. Bayley thought about this, the bay was the large body of water north Cerulean and was a popular destination for vacationers. She liked the idea, but there was someone else who needed to weigh in.

 

“TJ?” Bayley asked.

 

“Yeah...sounds fun,” TJ said, despite his words he sounded his usual nervous self.

 

“It’s been way too long since I got to spend time at the beach!” Tenille said as she literally leapt for joy. This made Bayley beam, her friend’s enthusiasm was contagious. 

 

The hike from the city to the beach only took about thirty minutes and when they finally emerged from the trees out onto the low hills that butted up onto the shore the view was stunning. Sapphire blue water stretched out before them seeming to twinkle in the sun. The sand was golden yellow and populated by happy people and Pokemon enjoying the day.

 

“Look!” Tenille cried as she pointed toward the water where several people were surfing.

 

“You surf?” Bayley asked interestedly.

  
Tenille gave her a pitying look as she said: “I’m Australian.”

 

“Fair enough,” Bayley answered with a look.

 

“You guys want to join me?” Tenille asked eagerly.

 

“No…” Bayley laughed “...that might be a bit too much for my arm.”

 

“TJ?” Tenille asked. TJ looked about how you’d expect him to at such an invitation.

 

“No thanks,” he muttered.

 

“Well, I better leave you two alone then. I’m going to go change, meet you back at the snack bar later?” Tenille asked. Bayley nodded but wondered why Tenille had put a slight emphasis on the word ‘alone’ when she’d said this to TJ.

 

“Have fun, we’ll see you later,” Bayley said as Tenille left. Turning to TJ then she suggested: “ I saw a sign back there pointing toward a wild Pokemon habitat. Want to go check it out?”

 

“Uh...sure,” TJ said, for once with a smile. A weak and trembling smile, but a smile. And this made Bayley beam. In turn, this caused TJ to flush bright red. Bayley sighed inwardly at this but just beckoned for him to join her. 

 

They backtracked for a few minutes and then followed a side trail that led to a smaller bay off the main one that had been left untouched by humans. Even the trail looked like it might have been made by Pokemon judging by how it meandered. Bayley kept her eyes and ears peeled as she walked, but only detected small rustlings in the undergrowth. 

 

It didn’t help that TJ wasn’t exactly the most stealthy person in the world. He was clearly not yet comfortable moving in the woods and he tended to catch his foot on every root and disturb every loose pile of leaves. Despite this, Bayley was just glad to be out in the world again. She’d spent more than enough time sitting or lying still.

 

The path they were on wound down toward the water for about ten minutes before it forked. One direction would take them deeper into the woods while the other led down to the beach. “Which way do you want to go?” TJ asked from behind her.

 

Bayley turned around and frowned at him. “What’s wrong with your voice?” she asked him? He’d sounded like he was purposely lowering his voice for a moment. But that was ridiculous, maybe he’d just swallowed wrong.

 

“Err...nothing…” he said, sounding more like himself as he looked off to one side. 

 

“Well, the beach seems nice,” Bayley said, deciding to ignore it. She might not want to surf, but she still loved the idea of being by the water. She set off then and when she walked out onto the beach she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the salty air, just relishing the day. On an impulse, she sat down on the sand and began to pull off her shoes and socks.

 

“It’s...um...the view is pretty,” TJ said from behind her. 

 

“Right?!” Bayley said enthusiastically as she stood, barefoot, and reveled in the feeling of the sand between her toes for a few moments. Then she took a few steps into the water and smiled at the cool feeling. Looking around she could see several Magikarp swimming lazily in the shallows and even a Corphish scuttling along the beach. She guessed that if she were to simply stand here for a while more Pokemon would appear if they weren’t startled away. 

 

“Ummm….Bayley?” TJ asked. Bayley turned toward him with raised eyebrows and found him blushing ever deeper than usual.

 

“What’s up?” she asked curiously.

 

“I...umm...well…” he stammered but whatever he was going to say, Bayley never heard it. He’d picked up a rock somewhere and he threw it absently off to one side. It might have just been a nervous gesture but regardless, it didn’t work out that way. The rock soared off to one side and collided with what seemed to be a red rock. Bayley was looking away when the rock moved. 

 

With a gurgling sound, it rose slightly and then shook the sand off of itself. Four spindly legs appeared, these then began scuttling around and in no time TJ and Bayley found themselves facing a large crab. 

 

“ _ Krabby, Its pincers are not only powerful weapons, they are used for balance when walking sideways,”  _ Bayley’s Pokedex said as she pointed it at the Pokemon. 

 

“Uh...Bayley?” TJ stammered as he took a few steps backward.

 

“Don’t look at me, man. You threw the rock at it, I think you gotta battle it now,” Bayley said, trying to hide a grin. Krabby wasn’t that big and Bayley knew that between them they could easily drive it off. But she thought this might make good practice for TJ.

 

“W-w-what?” TJ asked her, fixing her with a wide-eyed stare.

 

It was harder not to laugh now that Krabby had taken a few steps out of the shadow of the trees. It was a small Pokemon by any standard, dwarfed by TJ himself. Bayley held it together though as she said: “Better get a Pokemon out, and quick.”

 

TJ gulped visibly before turning to face the Krabby slowly advancing toward him. With a visibly shaking hand, he removed a Pokeball from his belt. A moment later he tossed it out in front of him. A moment later there was a flash and Magnemite appeared. 

 

“ _ Magnemite”  _ the Pokemon buzzed.

 

“Do NOT use self-destruct!” Bayley said quickly, worried that TJ might go right to his signature move. Judging from the look on his face, she’d been right.

 

“Uh...right...ummm...Magnemite? Use...tackle?” he sounded like he was asking the Pokemon’s advice. And this confusion communicated itself to Magnemite. 

 

The Pokemon turned in midair to face it’s trainer and asked: “ _ Magenmite?” _

 

This delay cost them both as Krabby had already closed the distance. With a loud spluttering sound a stream of bubbles streamed from its mouth and collided with Mangemite. ‘Bubble’ was a water type move and thus wouldn’t be terribly effective against a Steel-Electric type like Magnemite. But with the Pokemon facing away from its opponent and not concentrating, it was effective enough.

 

“ _ Maggggggggg,”  _ Magnemite hummed as it’s eye shut tightly. Bayley reached for one of her own Pokeballs at this but she forced her hand back down. She remembered how TJ had once snapped at her when she’d ‘rescued’ him. Besides, she thought he needed to do this on his own. So she settled on giving advice.

 

“TJ! Magnemite is waiting for you to give it a command! You can’t ask it questions, it’s going to confuse it!” she called. TJ looked blankly over at this but something must have resonated with him as he turned to address his Pokemon again.

 

“M-m-m-Magnemite...use tackle,” he managed to say. Bayley wasn’t sure, how but his Pokemon heard him and Magnemite hurtled toward Krabby, colliding with the other Pokemon with a loud thud. Krabby was sent rolling backward with a pained gurgling.

 

“Yeah!” Bayley cheered. TJ looked over at her, a grin slowly spreading across his face at her reaction. It seemed to give him more confidence as he turned back to Magnemite.

 

“Magnemite? Use thundershock,” TJ said. It still sounded like he was asking his Pokemon to do it, but this was better than before. Magnemite seemed to think so as well, as sparks began to fly from the magnets on either side of its body. Realizing that this might not be the best time to be standing in water, Bayley hopped out and onto the sand. Just in time to.

 

“ _ Magnemite!”  _ TJ’s pokemon cried as a bolt of electricity arced from its body and struck Krabby dead on. Electric-type moves were very effective against water pokemon, and this was no exception. Krabby jerked and writhed for the few seconds that it lasted before collapsing down onto the sand. Bayley’s instinct was to spring over to the Pokemon to check on it, but she knew what she needed to do now.

 

“Catch it!” she said, as she hurried over to TJ and touched his arm. To her surprise, TJ jumped at her touch as though it was Bayley herself who was electric.

 

“W-what?” he asked, back to sounding more like his usual self. This perplexed Bayley but she was too focused to dwell on it.

 

“Catch Krabby! Quick!” she urged him. TJ looked down then as though he had just remembered that he was carrying empty Pokeballs.

 

“Oh...uh...right…” he said, blushing as he took one off his belt. Hesitating for a moment he took very careful aim and threw the ball toward Krabby.

 

It fell several feet short. Bayley winced but looked away quickly to pretend as though she hadn’t seen. She didn’t look back until she heard TJ throw another. This one did hit Krabby and the pokemon vanished inside. 

 

TJ had apparently done enough of a number on the Pokemon that the ball didn’t even wiggle before the light on its button went on, indicating that TJ had captured Krabby. Bayley felt a surge of joy bursting from within as she turned and gave TJ a hug.

 

“Yeah buddy!” she cheered as she released him and hurried over to where the Pokeball rested on the sand. Picking it up she trotted back to TJ and handed it to him. She put his extra red face down to simple elation at his capture. He had every right to be pleased, despite a rocky start he’d done OK.

 

“Thanks,” TJ mumbled as she looked quickly down to attach the Pokeball to his belt.

 

“If you like I can take a look at Krabby now, make sure he’s OK,” Bayley offered. When TJ just nodded toward his feet but didn’t say anything she waited for a while until she added: “Can you...let Krabby out of the Pokeball?”

 

“Oh, right!” TJ said in a startled voice. He fumbled for a moment before he managed to release the Pokemon out onto the beach. Bayley nodded at him and then moved over to where Krabby was slumped on the sand. The Pokemon looked battered but Bayley judged that it wasn’t any kind of lasting damage. Mostly, Krabby needed to rest but Bayley sprayed it three times with a potion from her bag. Krabby cracked an eye at this but gave a weary but grateful sounding gurgle.

 

“Don’t mention it, pal, just rest up,” Bayley told the Pokemon before nodding at TJ. After Krabby had vanished back into its ball Bayley decided to release Ivysaur from his. 

 

“ _ Ivysaur!”  _ the Pokemon scolded her for keeping him cooped up for so long. 

 

“Oh, relax…” Bayley teased him as she scratched his ears “...besides, we’ve got so much to tell you!”

 

She let TJ tell the Pokemon what he’d just done, and Ivysaur seemed duly impressed. They spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the beach and chatting, TJ seemingly having relaxed. He was very interested in the device Becky had made for Bayley. He’d heard her stories about Mew but, of course, hadn’t seen the Pokemon. In the end, grateful to this new and less awkward TJ, Bayley even agreed to let him examine it some evening with his tools. They saw many Pokemon that afternoon but Bayley decided she wasn’t interested in trying to catch any. She released her other Pokemon, even Stinky, and was content to just walk with them. 

 

Later that afternoon they were sitting at the snack bar, waiting on Tenille. TJ had bought them both lunch and Bayley had thanked him before promising to get it next time. Somehow, TJ’s expression at this was both hopeful and discouraged. But Bayley was so hungry that she found her hot dog for more interesting than trying to understand the inner workings of boys. 

 

They were eventually joined by Tenille, still clad her in her wet suit and looking as though she’d had the time of her life. Bayley noticed an urgent glance that passed between her friends before Tenille sat down with them and took one of Bayley’s remaining chips.

 

“So, how was it you two?” she asked.

 

“TJ caught a Pokemon!” Bayley said happily, eager to brag about her friend. If anyone needed the self-esteem boost it would be TJ.

 

“Yeah?” Tenille asked, sounding both surprised and delighted.

 

“It wasn’t…” TJ mumbled but now it was Tenille’s turn to hug him.

 

“Proud of you kid!” she said before adding: “And I’m sure Bayley was impressed.”

 

“I was,” Bayley agreed. TJ looked so flustered now that she decided not to try and talk with him any further for a while.

 

“Where too next?” Tenille asked as she smiled across the table. Bayley didn’t answer right away, she was once again staring out at the perfect scene before her. 

 

“What the rush?” she asked, with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back! We're back! 
> 
> Sorry for the long delay folks but Bayley is back, and she's here to stay! 
> 
> What did everyone think of this chapter? Our girl is becoming quite the trainer, isn't she? TWO gym badges now. But will TJ be able to survive any longer? 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14: Big and Bigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and her friends ascend into the mountains where they encounter an unexpected problem.

“What happened here?” Tenille Dashwood asked.

 

“Something bad…” Bayley said as she looked around at the scene before them. She, Tenille, and TJ had been trekking up into the mountains to the southeast of Cerulean City for most of the day. They’d all been looking forward to a break at the ranger station that was marked on their maps but it seemed that wasn’t to be.

 

“Where are the rangers?” TJ asked as he nudged an upside down action packer with his foot. The ranger station itself, a squat log building, was right where it was supposed to be but it looked as though someone had picked it up and dumped everything out of it before putting it back. Clothes, tools, equipment, and food containers (so many of these) were strewn everywhere.

 

“No idea, but they’re kind of slobs,” Tenille muttered as she picked a trashcan back up and began tossing scraps into it.

 

“I don’t think the Rangers did this Tenille…” Bayley said as she looked around. Tenille looked up curiously at her so Bayley pointed at the wall of ranger station at some long scratches in the wood. “I don’t think they did that,” she said.

 

“What made those marks?” TJ asked in a small voice.

 

“Gotta be a pokemon right?” Tenille mused as she studied the marks.

 

“What if it’s still around?” TJ asked, sounding more worried now.

 

Tenille snorted and held her hand next to the scratches, they were long but not very big. Whatever claws had made the clearly weren’t huge. “Maybe we can catch one?” she suggested.

 

“Hmm, maybe,” Bayley said as she continued to look around. She was less interested in catching the Pokemon and more interested in why they’d chosen to raid the ranger station. “Maybe we should try to find the rangers?” she suggested.

 

“There’s no sign of them,” Tenille answered as she peered into the ranger station. Bayley joined her and looked around the interior of the room. It wasn’t much cleaner than the outside. Bayley took a few cautious steps inside before she noticed a ladder in the corner leading up to a loft.

 

“Hello?” she called. She got no response so she mounted the ladder and climbed until her head popped up through the hole in the loft floor. It was apparently the sleeping area, there were two small beds as well as other bedroom furniture. Unlike the space below, this one looked neat and orderly. It seemed the Pokemon hadn’t been able to make it up the ladder. 

 

“Anything interesting?” Tenille asked.

 

“Just a bedroom,” Bayley said as she dropped off the ladder. She gave the interior another look, seeking some sign of where the Rangers might have gone. Nothing. After one last look, she stepped back outside and looked up into the sky before shouting: “Pidgey!”

 

She only had to wait a few moments before she heard the fluttering wings approaching. A moment later her Pokemon alighted on a nearby picnic table. “ _ Pidgey?”  _ the bird asked curiously. 

 

Bayley would have liked to have allowed all her Pokemon to walk freely during their journey but it just hadn’t been possible. The steeply climbing path would have been difficult for Ivysaur’s short legs and Grimer would have taken forever to make the trip. But, as these weren’t issues for a flying type, Pidgey had been free to soar above them all day. 

 

“Think you’re up for a job?” Bayley asked her Pokemon. In response, Pidgey nibbled at her own feathers in a dignified sort of way. As though to say ‘you even have to ask?’. Bayley grinned as she went on: “Can you scout around to see if you can find the rangers who live here? They’ll probably be in some kind of uniform. If you find them, come back and tell us, OK?”

 

“ _ Pidgey!”  _ the Pokemon hooted eagerly as she shot off into the air. Bayley smiled after her for a while before she turned back to the ranger station. She decided to continue what Tenille had been doing by picking up some of the trash around the area. Tenille and TJ joined in and they began to make some good progress. 

 

It took them the best part of an hour to clean up the mess around the ranger station. Even when they were done they had to pile some stuff awkwardly outside the station as they weren’t clear where it went. As Pidgey hadn’t returned by this time they decided that they’d take advantage of the picnic table and eat lunch.

 

Bayley had tried to be mindful about picking berries as she went and she had a nice amount of them by now. She shared them among the group and then nibbled on some hardtack and beef jerky that she carried. Tenille spread some peanut butter on a tortilla (her preferred hiking snack) while TJ ate an energy bar.

 

It was a beautiful day up on the mountain, the sun was shining and the air was crisp. Bayley enjoyed this time with her friends as they just talked and laughed. She’d noted that TJ seemed to be more relaxed lately, she wondered if it had anything to do with the few times she’d happened upon him and Tenille whispering together in the evenings. Whatever the case, it was nice.

 

Or, it was nice for a while. They’d been eating for about ten minutes when they discovered what had happened to the ranger station.

 

Bayley was the first to hear the rustling in the underbrush. Looking up she saw a pair of tall teal ears poking out of a bush. A moment later, she caught sight of large eyes and a teal body. As the Pokemon emerged fully into the clearing, Bayley held up her Pokedex toward it.

 

“ _ Munchlax,  _ _ I _ _ t needs to consume its own weight in food every day. As far as flavor is concerned, it's indifferent. It hides food under its long body hair. However, it forgets it has hidden the food.” _

 

“Hey there, how are you?” Bayley called to the Pokemon.

 

“ _ Munchlax,”  _ the Pokemon said as it took a few hesitant steps forward. Remembering what the Pokedex had told her, Bayley dug a berry out of her bag and held it out to the Pokemon.

 

“You hungry?” she asked with a smile. The Pokemon’s eyes seemed to widen at this offer, and without a moment’s hesitation, it hurried forward. Reaching a stubby arm out it snatched the berry from Bayley’s palm and scarfed it down. Bayley laughed as she said: “Wow, eager aren’t you?”

 

If only she’d known how right she was.

 

Munchlanx didn’t respond to her, instead, it turned back to the brush and cried: “ _ Munchlax!”  _ Before Bayley could wonder at this behavior, several more Munchlanx appeared from the bushes. 

 

“ _ Munchlax!”  _ they called in unison as they suddenly surged toward the table. Bayley stood quickly as the Pokemon began struggling to climb up onto the benches and then up onto the table. Before she could even speak, most of her berries were vanishing into Munchlax mouths. What was more, a quick look told her that more Munchlax had appeared behind the first wave.

 

“Oi!” Tenille shouted. Bayley turned and saw the other girl's jar of peanut butter being born away on a sea of teal hands. It was then that she felt a tugging on her pack. She didn’t need to look down to realize what it was.

 

“Into the ranger station!” she shouted as she shook a Munchlax off her pack. Bayley was forced to bowl through the crowd of eager Pokemon. As they passed, both she and Tenille put a hand on TJ’s arms, dragging him along behind them. They reached the building only a little way ahead of the hungry Munchlax. A quick look told them that they wouldn't be able to climb the ladder before their pursuers arrived. 

 

“Go on, I got this!” Tenille said as she took a Pokeball off her belt and tossed it saying: “GO! ELECTABUZZ!”

 

There was a flash and a moment later the brilliantly yellow and black Pokemon appeared roaring: “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELECTABUZZ!”

 

“Use thundershock!” Tenille called. Electabuzz raised its long arms over its head and with a roar sent a blast of electricity arcing toward the Munchlax. There were over a dozen of them present now so the attack couldn’t drive them all off. But it was enough to slow them down and Tenille full use of this distraction to return Electabuzz to it’s Pokeball and to shoot up the ladder just behind Bayley. The two girls hoisted the ladder up behind them, though they had to shake a Munchlax off the bottom rung as they did.

 

Bayley dropped down onto the loft floor, trying to catch her breath. “Well, now we know what happened,” she said with a weak grin.

 

“Yeah...but what do we do now?” TJ asked with a gulp, his newfound calm and completely deserted him. Bayley put a hand on his arm and was surprised when the color started to drain from his face. She pulled it back quickly but tried to reassure him.

 

“It looks like they didn’t make it up here last time so I think we’ll just have to stay up here until they leave,” she said. Neither of her friends had an objection or suggestion so they settled in. As they waited they heard the sounds of the Munchlax tearing the ranger station apart again below them. 

 

“This ranger station isn’t new is it?” Tenille asked suddenly.

 

Bayley shrugged but it was TJ who answered. “The map says it’s been here for over a hundred years,” he supplied. Bayley blinked at this, looking around the building with new interest.

 

“But…” Tenille said as she followed her own train of thought “...It can’t have been here for that long getting raided constantly by Munchlax. So why are they doing it now?” It was a good question, but Bayley didn’t have an answer for it. Again though, it seemed TJ did.

 

“I think…” he said as he looked thoughtful “...That something must have happened to their food supply. Before this, they were getting enough on their own but now they have to look for it in other places. Like here.” Bayley blinked at this, it made perfect sense. 

 

“But what could be eating their food?” she asked. Despite their close call earlier Bayley didn’t like the idea of the Munchlax having their food supply taken. She was wondering if there was anything she could do when Tenille, who had moved to peer out a window, cleared her throat.

 

“I think I have an idea,” she said. Curious, Bayley stood and joined the other girl at the window. What she saw made her eyes go wide. A VERY large Pokemon was emerging from the trees near the station. 

 

“ _ URRRRRRRRR!”  _ it growled loud enough to be heard inside the station. The Pokemon looked like an enormous brown bear big claws and a tan circle on its stomach. Bayley didn’t need her Pokedex to identify it, she’d seen many photos of the one her father had once trained. This was an Ursaring. 

 

“You think that Ursaring has been eating the Munchlax’s food in the wild?” Bayley asked. Tenille just shrugged.

 

“If TJ is right, then it makes sense,” she said. Bayley agreed, but now that she had an answer to what was happening to the Munchlax and their food she had no idea how she could help. SHe was about to resign herself to the fact that she couldn’t do anything when something caught her attention. She was suddenly aware that the cabin was quiet, no sounds of Munchlax below. 

 

Frowning she moved over to the hole where the ladder had been and peered down. There were no Pokemon in the station. Without thinking, she dropped down through the hole, landing with a thud on the floor.

 

“Bayley?!” Tenille asked. But Bayley didn’t answer as she crept to the door and peered around the edge. 

 

She saw the Munchlax scattering in all directions, apparently fleeing from the Ursaring. She supposed she couldn’t blame the smaller Pokemon, even if her heart went out to them. She was about to duck back inside when something happened to change her mind. As she watched, one of the Munchlax strayed too close to the Ursaring in its attempt to flee. Ursaring turned to look at it before casually swatting it aside.

  
“ _ MUNCH!”  _ the smaller Pokemon whined as it was sent soaring through the air back toward Bayley. Munchlax hit the dirt hard and slid to a stop just outside the door. Without thinking, Bayley shot out of the shelter of the station and knelt beside the Pokemon.

 

“Munchlax! Are you alright?” she asked as she looked the Pokemon over. From what she could tell, the Pokemon wasn’t seriously hurt, just badly rattled. The sight of Munchlax drove rational thought from her head as Bayley’s deeply ingrained dislike of bullies overrode her better judgment. Standing quickly, she pulled a Pokeball off her belt and marched toward Ursaring.

 

“HEY! YOU!” she barked as she approached.

 

“Ursaring?” the bear rumbled as it turned to regard her imperiously.

 

“Back off Baloo!” Bayley shouted, her anger making her forget that she was confronting an enormous and dangerous Pokemon. 

 

“Urrrrrrr!” Ursaring growled back at her. But Bayley didn’t budge an inch as she just glared up at the Pokemon.

 

“Leave these Munchlax alone!” she commanded. Ursaring was not impressed, instead, it lowered its head to her level and roared at her. This huge sound was enough finally cut through her temper and drive home the reality of her situation.

 

“BAYLEY!” she heard TJ shout from behind her, but only barely. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she tried to gauge if she could make it back to the ranger station before Ursaring got her. She doubted it, she was just reaching for Ivysaur’s Pokeball when a voice spoke beside her.

 

“ _ MUNCH!”  _ Munchlax challenged, startling Bayley who hadn’t realized the Pokemon had recovered. Even through her fear, some part of Bayley was worried about Munchlax and she looked him over to see if he was showing any new signs of injury. He wasn’t but by the time Bayley looked back at Ursaring, the bear was moving.

 

“MUNCHLAX LOOK OUT!” Bayley shouted as she dove at the Pokemon and wrapped him in her arms as a big paw whistled through the air where she’d been standing a moment before. When she and Munchlax stopped rolling, Bayley shot to her feet and tossed a Pokeball. “GO! IVYSAUR!” she shouted as the ball opened.

 

“ _ IVYSAUR!”  _ her Pokemon growled. 

 

“Ivysaur, use tackle on Ursaring!” Bayley shouted as she regained her feet.

 

“ _ IVY!”  _ Ivysaur roared as he charged forward and slammed into Ursaring’s stomach. The larger Pokemon gave a loud grunt as it stumbled backward, but that was the sum of its reaction.

 

“BAYLEY! CALL HIM BACK!” Tenille shouted, panic in her voice. 

 

Only they did Bayley realize her mistake. Ursaring was a normal-type, most of its attacks were purely physical. If she’d been thinking she would have had Ivysaur attack from the outside, but by using tackle she’d brought her best friend with arms reach of the larger Pokemon. She’d been so desperate to buy herself space she hadn’t thought.

 

“Ivysaur! Come back!” she shouted, but it was too late. Before Ivysaur could retreat Ursaring roared and clubbed the grass-type with a burly arm. 

 

“ _ Ivy!”  _ Ivysaur grunted as he was thrown backward. Bayley Lurched to her feet and threw herself in front of him, getting bowled off her feet. But she held on tight and did her best to cushion his fall. This drove the breath out of her as she felt sharp rocks jab her back on the ground.

 

“I’m so sorry buddy!” Bayley told her Pokemon before releasing him. She knew Ivysaur wouldn’t blame her, but that wouldn’t stop her from doing it. She also knew that Ivysaur would want right back into the battle. So after taking a moment to gather herself she was standing, preparing to give another command when her heart fell at what she saw.

 

Munchlax and planted itself in the path of Ursaring. The Pokemon was more than four feet smaller than its opponent and massively less bulky. But, with its blood up, it seemed Ursaring didn’t care. With another roar the bear drew one thick arm back, the fist glowing suddenly. Bayley had seen this on TV, it was preparing to use hammer arm.

 

Again, Bayley didn’t think. She darted forward, intending to pull Munchlax back, as she shouted: “Ivysaur! Razer leaf!”. She just barely managed to drag the small Pokemon out of the way of the blow that would have surely finished it off. As she did, a flurry of leaves shot overhead and drove Ursaring backward once again. A small part of Bayley’s mind told her that Ursaring must be at a VERY high level to so easily shrug off Ivysaur’s attack. Still, she didn’t have time to dwell on this as she set Munchlax down.

 

“Stay back buddy, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt OK?” she told the Pokemon as she put her hands on its shoulders. She didn’t have time for anything more as she had to think of a way out of her situation. She was debating if she should try Ivysaur’s slingshot combo on Ursaring when Tenille shouted from the window.

 

“Bayley! Get out of the way!” 

 

For a moment, Bayley looked over her shoulder for Ursaring, thinking that the Pokemon must have somehow snuck up on her. But then she was aware of a brilliant flash of light coming from behind her. Before she could react she suddenly felt herself being slowly but inexorably being pushed to one side. 

 

“What the?-” she tried to say before she was forced down to all fours. Crawling desperately away her back ran into the wall of the ranger station as she saw what had happened. Standing where Munchlax had been was a COLOSSAL Pokemon. 

 

“Snorrrrrrrrrrr,” the huge teal and cream colored Pokemon rumbled, it’s voice deep enough to make Bayley feel like her teeth were rattling. But if she was shaken, it was nothing on Ursaring’s reaction. Where it had formerly been facing a pipsqueak it was now confronting a behemoth. Munchlax had evolved into Snorlax and now dwarfed the bear Pokemon.

 

“Ursa…” the Pokemon growled, suddenly uncertain. Bayley was waiting for Snorlax to attack but instead, the giant simply turned to look at Bayley.

 

“BAYLEY!...” TJ called down to her “...Munchlax only evolves when it levels up while feeling great friendship! It bonded with you!”

 

Bayley gaped as she looked up at Snorlax. It took her a moment to find her voice as she asked: “Does...does...that mean…?”

 

“It’s your bloody Pokemon now, girl!” Tenille shouted, even in her startled state Bayley detected the laughter in her friend's voice. And this, more than anything, helped her settle. She saw Ivysaur, unhurt and ready to continue the fight off to one side. But she suddenly knew he wouldn’t be needed.

 

“Alright…” she said “...Snorlax, use headbutt!” 

 

“SNORLAX!” the huge Pokemon roared as it lurched forward. Ursaring knew it’s peril and tried to run, but it couldn’t quite avoid the huge headbutt that collided square with it’s back. The bear went skidding along the ground and lay still when it stopped. 

 

“Good work Snorlax!” Bayley cried as she ran up and hugged the giant. She could barely get her arms to grasp the Pokemon’s belly, but she felt a low satisfied rumble coming from the big guy as she did. 

 

“Only you could end up with a Pokemon like that,” Tenille called, sounding both impressed and bemused.

 

Pidgey arrived about fifteen minutes later, leading the two rangers who usually lived in the station. They explained that after the Munchlax had first driven them out of the building they’d decided to go check to see what might have provoked them. Then they’d gotten lost, and it was only Pidgey’s arrival that had helped them return.

 

“Don’t worry about Ursaring,” one of the rangers told Bayley after they’d arrived and used a sleep dart on the bear. “We’ll make sure to relocate it to an area where it will have plenty of food but won’t be competing with the Munchlax.” Bayley nodded and then asked a question that had been on her mind since the Rangers had arrived.

 

“Will I have to leave Snorlax here?” She tried to keep her voice neutral but she’d already grown fond of the big Pokemon and didn’t want to part from him.

 

The ranger shook her head. “Oh no, if Munchlax evolved for you then it saw you as a close friend. It would be cruel to leave Snorlax here after that. Besides, it will mean more food to go around for the remaining Munchlax.”

 

“OK, great!” Bayley said. She and her friends had one last meal, this time uninterrupted, at the ranger station. They then set off intending to try and make it to a nearby campsite before nightfall. As they walked the three friends exchanged eager recollections from earlier in the day. Bayley wasn’t particularly tired but when they reached the campsite her friends insisted on giving her only the easy jobs. She’d tried to protest, but they’d insisted.

 

So she found herself walking through the darkening trees seeking kindling for their fire. Ivysaur and Grimer were walking beside her, Pidgey was somewhere up in the trees, and Snorlax was napping happily back at the campsite. All in all, it hadn’t been a bad day at all. But it seemed it wasn’t done with Bayley either.

 

As Bayley bent low to pick up a few sticks, the brush in front of her rustled. She took a reflexive step backward, filling her lungs to call for her Pokemon. But before she could, she was suddenly overcome with a sense of peace and contentment. Though she now felt as relaxed as she ever had, she sensed that the feeling was external. That it was somehow being instilled in her. And it was this realization that kept her from being too surprised when two bright blue eyes materialized out of thin air and a high voice trilled.

 

“ _ Mew?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know it feels really good to get Bayley back on the road again. Don't get me wrong, she has great adventures in the cities but I feel like the story is at it's best when she's moving. 
> 
> Remember that you guys are invaluable to this story. It's so much easier to write when I get to interact with your fine humans. Kudos, comments, and bookmarks? Bring them all! 
> 
> OK, so what did you guys think of this chapter? Real talk, the idea of a Bayley-Snorlax partnership was one of the things that helped bring this whole series about. It just seems to fit right? 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15: Mountain Meandering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and her friends continue their trek through the Magenta Mountains, along the way they meet a new friend.

“OK, team...time for a break,” Bayley grunted as she dropped the rock she'd been carrying for the last hour or so. Instead of one thud, she heard three, as both Ivysaur and Pidgey dropped the rock’s they’d been carrying. 

 

“ _ Ivyyyyyy…”  _ Ivysaur growled as he shook his flower and looked around him challengingly as though daring someone to ask him if he was tired. Bayley could see he was, he was sweating and his legs were shaking slightly, but she knew her Pokemon would never admit it. He was dragging much bigger rocks now than he had when he’d been Bulbasaur and some of the strain was showing.

 

“I’m never doing this again,” Tenille grunted as she rubbed her arm. Bayley had persuaded her friends to join her in this kind of training for the day. The Australian girl was looking thoroughly disgruntled now.

 

“ _ Eeeeeeeelctabuzz…”  _ Tenille’s Pokemon, Electabuzz grunted. He obviously agreed with his trainer.

 

“Your loss…” Bayley said as she took a few deep breaths “...There’s a reason why Ivysaur is so strong you know.”

 

“We’ll risk it,” Tenille groaned as she dropped down onto a rock. The group had stopped in a clearing high in the Magenta Mountains. The thin mountain air had no doubt made their training that morning much harder than it would otherwise have been. 

 

“TJ?” Bayley asked. The boy had been trailing behind Tenille and herself for the last few miles but when she turned now she found him sprawled out in the thin grass with his chest heaving.

 

“I’m...I’m...I’m OK…” he wheezed. Bayley and Tenille exchanged a quick glance before silently agreeing that he would probably appreciate it more if they didn’t take notice. Instead, Bayley found another patch of grass and sat heavily. The cool air felt terrific as she closed her eyes and let her head fall back.

 

“How much further do you want to go today, Bay?” Tenille asked. Bayley didn’t open her eyes as she thought about this. It could surprise her occasionally when Tenille deferred to her like this. The other girl was, after all, three years older than Bayley. But somehow the other two had come to see her as the unofficial leader of their little group.

 

They had climbed up into the mountains because Tenille had been interested in trying to catch some of the Pokemon that lived there. They’d certainly seen some interesting specimens nothing that had made the other girl reach for a Pokeball yet. Bayley guessed that, at their present pace, their present trail would take them back down out of the mountains in about four days. 

 

It certainly seemed like more than enough time, but she wanted to make sure that Tenille got her time to try and catch some Pokemon. Their clearing was in the middle of a pine tree forest and it certainly seemed like the kind of place where Pokemon would live. This, plus the knowledge that TJ needed a break, helped Bayley decide.

 

“Why don’t we break for a few hours? I bet there are a few Pokemon around and I rest my arm a bit. In truth, her arm was long since healed and perfectly fine. But TJ hated being babied so simply said this as a convenient ruse. 

 

“Awesome, either of you want to join me?” Tenille asked as she set her pack down and began to rummage through it.

 

“I’ll take it easy here, get a fire going in case we want to try and cook when you get back,” Bayley said.

 

“Umm...I think I’ll stay,” TJ agreed, he sounded like he’d caught his breath finally at least.

 

“Your loss, have fun you two!” Tenille tossed over her shoulder as she departed with a few lures in her hands. 

 

“Thanks for staying TJ, want to go grab us some firewood?” Bayley asked. This actually reminded her of a question she’d been meaning to ask, so before he could respond she spoke again. “Also, if you don’t mind, I wondered if you could look at something for me?” TJ’s face flushed at this but he also beamed so Bayley decided he must still be winded. 

 

“Umm, sure...what did you need?” he asked.

 

Bayley took the small device that Becky had made her off her wrist and held it out. “My friend Becky made this for me it’s…” here she hesitated to try and explain what it was for but decided to just plow on “...It’s designed to detect powerful Pokemon nearby. But I don’t think it’s working. Do you think you could look at it?”

 

“YES!” TJ exclaimed, loud enough that Bayley frowned at him. He cleared his throat then and, after a pause, said: “Yes.”

 

“Thanks, I’ll make you lunch as a trade,” Bayley offered with a smile before she began to gather rocks for a small fire pit. TJ wandered off in search of wood and, after a quick glance to make sure he was gone, Bayley looked over at Ivysaur. “That boy is just...strange sometimes.” 

 

“ _ Ivy,”  _ her Pokemon said with a snort. Bayley grinned as she refocused on her work. She had gathered a few stones when, with a sudden rush of feathers, another rock dropped to the ground in front of her. 

 

“ _ Pidgey!”  _ Pidgey crowed cheerily at her as the Pokemon landed on the rock Tenille had been sitting on. 

 

“Thanks, lady!” Bayley beamed at her as she picked up Pidgey’s offering and added it to her growing ring. A moment later, two vines set two more rocks down in front of her. “And thank you to you as well, my good sir,” Bayley said to Ivysaur.

 

“ _ Ivy?”  _ Ivysaur asked her. Bayley assumed he wanted to know if she needed more rocks. “I’m good for now, thanks buddy,” she assured him as she fussed with the stones for a bit before going back to her pack. She had just located her matches when TJ returned. His arms were full of sticks while one fist was clenched around some tinder. Bayley smiled inwardly at this, the first few times she’d sent him out after firewood he’d always returned with huge logs of no use for starting a fire.

 

“Just set it beside the fire, will you? Bayley asked as she zipped her pack back up. Before returning to the fire she tapped one of the Pokeballs on her belt. A moment later her Grimer, affectionately known as ‘Stinky’ appeared.

 

“ _ Grimerrrrrrr!”  _ he cried as he looked around.

 

“Hey, Stinky, we’re done walking now so you can get out and stretch a bit!” Bayley told the Pokemon. She then looked around her, seeking an ideal spot for her next task. When she found a large mostly flat area she took her final Pokeball from her belt and threw it toward the open space. 

 

There was a loud flash and pop before a voice so deep that it seemed to shake the ground said: “ _ SNORLAXXXXXXXXXXX.”  _ A moment later the enormous teal and tan Pokemon appeared, as usual, he was lying flat on his back.

 

“Take it, easy pal, I just thought you might like to get some fresh air!” Bayley called to the giant Pokemon. She needn’t have bothered, Snorlax was already snoring away happily. “Attaboy,” Bayley said affectionately. She looked around the clear at her team and couldn’t help but swell with pride at the sight. These were HER Pokemon. 

 

“Did...did you still want me to look at your watch?” TJ asked Bayley. He sounded nervous, as though he really though Bayley might have changed her mind in the few minutes since she’d asked. 

 

“Oh, right!” Bayley said as she retrieved the device and handed it to TJ. 

 

“I’ll look at it right away!” TJ said, sounding as though Bayley had just entrusted him with a baby. He snatched up his pack and retreated across the clearing to a convenient stump. Bayley was happy to see TJ looking so settled and uncharacteristically confident. His behavior continued to puzzle her, he was so different when he was talking to Tenille than when he spoke with her. But he was sweet, and helpful as much as he could be. Bayley felt she was lucky to have him as a friend.

 

In a few short minutes, Bayley had a small fire going. Now that she wasn’t carrying a rock anymore, she found that she was getting a tiny bit chilly so she was glad of the warmth. Returning to her pack Bayley grabbed her berry sack and a few other supplies. Before she set to work with her own cooking she went to each of her Pokemon and offered them a berry. She only had a few left but always made sure to give her Pokemon first priority. Of course, one berry to Snorlax was like a drop of water on a roaring fire, but it was a gesture she wanted to make.

 

She then returned to the fire with the small cast iron pan she carried. She set the pan down on the ground and dumped the rest of her berries (those that humans could eat) into the pan and pounded them into a paste. She then added two handfuls dried fruit and some graham crackers she’d crumbled. After cleaning up, she walked into the trees and found two larger branches and brought them back. Setting them in the fire pit she balanced the pan on them, making sure to leave plenty of room for the fire to get oxygen.

 

With that done, Bayley decided to spend some time training Stinky. He didn’t get to spend as much time out of the Pokeball as the others simply because he couldn’t keep up with Bayley’s walking pace. But that didn’t mean she was going to neglect him. She had come up with an idea for him and, as his fellow Pokemon watched (or in Snorlax’s case, slept) she put him through his paces. 

 

She started by adapting one the games she had Ivysaur and Pidgey play. The bird would fly high in the air and drop small rocks or sticks, Stinky would then try to hit them before they hit the ground with a sludge attack. They transitioned this into speed training, wherein Stinky would have to avoid being hit by something Pidgey dropped from above. Bayley pushed him hard, but not harder than he could handle.

 

She was thinking of how she might involve Ivysaur in this training when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching through the trees. She didn’t think anything of it, just assuming it was Tenille returning. She was about to call out, asking if she’d caught anything when an unfamiliar voice spoke.

 

“Oh my, that smells lovely,” a woman with bright pink and blonde hair said as she stepped out from amongst the trees. She was wearing a strange assortment of clothes, bright purple pants, and sneakers with a lime green tank top. Over it, all she wore a white lab coat and perched on her nose were a pair of glasses. It was as though someone was trying to be both a juvenile delinquent and a scientist at the same time. But the whole look was a bit spoiled by the fact that her clothes were torn and she was covered in dirt, leaves, and small sticks. 

 

“Umm, hey are you...okay?” Bayley asked the disheveled looking woman. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of her but she guessed this was a person who might need help. 

 

“Oh, hello ahhhhh no...I mean yes...I might…” the blonde woman answered, unhelpfully.

 

“Uh...OK...I’m Bayley,” Bayley said as she approached the other woman.

 

“Dr. Liv Morgan…” the woman declared, sounding very proud for a moment before she added “...But you can call me Liv. I...ah...I seem to be lost.”

 

“Well...where were you supposed to be going?” Bayley asked.

 

“I was…” Liv started to say but she was distracted as she pulled off one of her shoes and shook several pebbles out of it “...Camping with my assistant and I spotted this fascinating Pokemon so I followed it and...now here I am.”

 

Bayley frowned at this but asked: “How long ago was that?”

 

“I don’t know, I was just walking then I smelled whatever you’re cooking,” Liv explained with a shrug.

 

“Well, you’re welcome to join us if you like,” Bayley offered.

 

“Thank you, I am very tired…” Liv said as Bayley led her over to the fire. Liv sat cross-legged as Bayley checked on her cooking. It was her improvised version of a berry cobbler, not much but it was usually tasty. 

 

“That really does smell good...I haven’t eaten in…” Liv said before trailing off as she was obviously trying to remember.

 

“You...ran out of food?” Bayley suggested.

 

“No, no...there was something...well never mind, why are you kids up here in the mountains?” Liv asked happily, as though she didn’t care in the world. 

 

“We’re just looking for Pokemon,” Bayley said as she went to her bag and came back with her first-aid kit. “Do you want me to look at those cuts?” she asked, feeling somewhat awkward about asking an adult this. But she was getting the impression that Liv was the sort who needed some looking after.

 

“That is an INCREDIBLE specimen of an Ivysaur!” Liv squealed as she hurried over to where the Pokemon had been sniffing around in the grass. Ivysaur looked up started as the short woman descended on him, but Liv didn’t actually touch him. She just knelt beside him and drew a small notebook out of her coat pocket. “Look at the musculature…” she was muttering when she seemed to finally register that Bayley had spoken to her “...Cuts?”

 

Bayley simply tapped her forehead in the same position where the older woman had a painful looking cut. Liv lifted a finger to touch the spot, she felt the cut and looked puzzled. Bayley wondered if she’d somehow not been aware of it.

 

“Oh, yes please,” Liv said. 

 

A minute later, Liv was eating some of Bayley’s improvised cobbler happily out of a tin mug while Bayley cleaned and bandaged her forehead. It was then that TJ returned.

 

“Bayley I- oh…” he said. Bayley rolled her eyes, she wasn’t at all surprised that TJ had somehow managed to completely miss the arrival of the other woman. When he got focused on something he could miss a hurricane.

 

“TJ Perkins, this is Dr. Morgan,” Bayley introduced the two.

 

“Hi, I’m Liv,” the blonde said happily.

 

“TJ....” TJ said uncertainly. He fidgeted awkwardly for a moment before he cleared his throat and said: “I...I...I looked at your watch and..”

 

“I’ll ask you about it later, OK?” Bayley said as she handed him a cup full of cobbler as well.

 

“Uh...OK...thanks Bayley,” he said as she sat on the opposite side of the fire from Liv. 

 

“This is sooooo good!” Liv told Bayley.

 

“Thanks, I-” before she was cut off by a sudden shout. A familiar voice coming from the woods. She was just turning as the ground began to rumble under her.

 

“BAYLEY! TJ! RUN!” Tenille’s voice was shouting from the woods. Bayley stood quickly at the sound, automatically starting to return her Pokemon to their Pokeballs. She’d just finished this, struggling to do so as the ground’s shaking was getting more violent when Tenille burst from the trees.

 

“RUN!” she shouted as she bent to snatch her pack as she passed it. 

 

“TJ, RUN!” Bayley shouted as she dragged Liv to her feet and hustled toward her own bag. She didn’t have time to see if TJ was following as she grabbed her own pack and simply took off after Tenille. She had no idea what had scared the other girl so much, but if Tenille was shouting to run then there was a good reason. 

 

It was very difficult going with the ground shaking so much. Bayley could barely hear herself think as she stumbled along, there was a huge rumbling filling the air. But as she ran she also heard loud roars coming from behind her. She risked a look back and instantly regretted it. 

 

She saw TJ struggling along a few yards back, but behind him was the real source of the commotion. A group of Onyx burst out of the trees, knocking several over, as they surged through the space Bayley and been resting in just a few moments before. 

 

“Keep going!” she shouted. She didn’t know what was going on but she had the horrible sense that they were chasing her and her friends.

 

“Wait!” Liv Morgan shouted from beside Bayley. She suddenly slewed around and halted directly in the path of the oncoming Pokemon.

 

“What are you doing?!” Bayley shouted, skidding to a halt. But Liv didn’t answer, she just reached into her lab coat and produced something small. Liv must have done something because a moment later the Onyx came to a halt, rearing high into the air and roaring even louder than before. Bayley continued to stare in fascination as the Pokemon continued to howl before, suddenly, they all dove straight downward. In a flash, the giants all vanished into the ground, tunneling downward faster than seemed possible for such behemoths. 

 

Bayley’s mind struggled to catch up with what had just happened, the transition from gut-wrenching terror to eerie silence being a jarring one. She probably would have stayed there, just staring if Tenille hadn’t suddenly touched her elbow. 

 

“Who is she?” the Australian asked. Liv heard and turned around with her bright smile once again on her face.

 

“Oh, hi there! I’m Liv!” she said.

 

“What did you do?” Bayley asked, nodding at the small device still in Liv’s hand. 

 

“Oh, this? It’s-” Liv started to say but she was cut off by an angry shout.

 

“LIV MORGAN!”  

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy BAYLEY (UW-AH!) We wanna knowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, where did that cobbler go?
> 
> Honestly, it sounded good as I wrote it...
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for sticking with this story! Big things are coming to the series, so stay tuned for it! As for Bayley and this chapter, What did you think of Liv? Who was shouting at the end?
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16: Mountain Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and her friends continue their journey through the mountains.

“I know you think you’re ready...so this is gonna be rough on you!” Tenille Dashwood called, a smirk on her face as she rested her hands on her hips.

 

“Lot’s of talking Aussie girl...I’m still waiting to see anything,” Bayley shot back as she grinned. She and Tenille were standing about twenty yards apart across a large clearing high in the Magenta Mountains. 

 

“You asked for it…” Tenille answered as she took a Pokeball off her belt and flung it forward shouting “...GO! Sandshrew!” 

 

A moment later a short pokemon appeared, it had yellow gold scales and a white belly. It’s dark eyes stared straight ahead at Bayley. “ _ SANDSHREW!”  _ it growled.

 

Bayley narrowed her eyes as she reached up and tightened her ponytail. She then reached down and grabbed one of her own pokeballs. Tossing it forward she said: “Go! Stinky!”

 

“ _ GRIMER!”  _ Bayley’s pokemon said cried as he appeared, facing Tenille’s Sandshrew. 

 

“Stinky? It’s nothing personal!” Tenille said before she took in a deep breath. “Sandshrew, use headbutt!” 

 

“ _ Shrew!”  _ Sandshrew called as it rolled into a ball and sped toward Stinky. 

 

“Stinky! Flatten out!” Bayley shouted. 

 

“ _ GRIME!”  _ Stinky said as he suddenly shrunk downward, in less than a second he looked like nothing more than a large purple puddle on the ground. Sandshrew rumbled right through him without any kind of noticeable effect. 

 

“Stinky! Use sludge!” Bayley shouted. In a blink, Stinky and reformed, spun and spat a large globule of purple sludge toward Sandshrew’s back. But Tenille was ready for this.

 

“Sandshrew! Dig underground!” she commanded. Sandshrew did as it was told and vanished into the rocky dirt in a cloud of flying dirt and rock. Stinky’s attack landed harmlessly on the ground after passing through the air that Sandshrew had occupied a few moments before. But Bayley had suspected Tenille might try this.

 

“Stinky, follow Sandshrew down the hole!” she barked. Without a word, her Grimer undulated along the ground and then forced it’s body down through the tunnel that Sandshrew had just excavated. 

 

“What are you thinking Bay?” Tenille called incredulously. “You know Stinky can’t keep up with Sandshrew underground!”

 

Bayley leered then, an expression that made Tenille’s eyes narrow. “He doesn’t have to!” she called. Before Tenille could respond, Bayley shouted: “STINKY! USE POISON GAS!”

 

Neither of them could hear any sort of response, but everyone knew what was happening. They knew because of the thin plume of dirty green gas that began pouring out of the hole that both pokemon had vanished down. Tenille sensed the danger. Sandshrew was not only trapped in a tunnel that was rapidly filling with toxic gas, but Stinky’s slimy body was blocking the only exit.

 

“Sandshrew! Surface!” Tenille shouted. There was a tense moment when nothing happened, and then another. But then, in an explosion of earth, Sandshrew blasted out of the ground. The Pokemon was coughing and gagging as more gas escaped from this new outlet. 

 

Bayley saw her opportunity and seized it. “Stinky! Out of the ground and use pound before Sandshrew can recover!”

 

“ _ GRIMER!”  _ came the answering cry as the pokemon surged up out of the ground and undulated toward Sandshrew. 

 

“Sandshrew! Dodge!” Tenille shouted. Sandshrew did it’s best, but by the time it started moving Stinky’s hands were halfway down in a two-fisted blow to the top of Sandshrew’s head. 

 

“ _ Shrew!”  _ Sandshrew grunted as it was knocked forward. It was a solid hit, but not enough to end the battle.

 

“Good on staying in there Sandshrew…” Tenille cheered “...Now turn around and use swift!”

 

“ _ Sandshrewwwwwwwwwwww!”  _ Sandshrew howled as it sent a shower of bright yellow stars flashing toward Stinky. There was no time for Bayley’s pokemon to try and avoid the attack.

 

“Stinky, HARDEN!!” Bayley snapped. Stinky seemed to shimmer for a moment and just as the stars began to collide with him. They began pinging off of his body, causing nothing more than a slight nudging effect. 

 

“Sandshrew! Keep it up!” Tenille barked and her Pokemon complied. 

 

Bayley gritted her teeth as she watched the stars continue to bounce off of Stinky. She knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, she needed a plan. And she needed it very soon. This need was reinforced when, with a loud cracking sound, Stinky’s armor cracked. The time was now or never.

 

“Stinky, MINIMIZE!” she shouted. She winced as she saw her pokemon take several painful looking hits but then...he vanished. Well, not really. It would be more accurate to say that Stinky shrank and continued to shrink until he was less than a foot tall. The move had its intended effect, the vast majority of Sandshrew’s stars began to miss now as its target was significantly smaller. But it seemed she’d stepped into a trap. As soon as Stinky began to shrink, Tenille grinned.

 

“Sandshrew! Use sand attack!” she cried in triumph. Sandshrew stopped it’s barrage and folded itself down into a ball and began spinning rapidly in reverse. Though it didn’t move, it did begin to pelt Stinky and Bayley with a hail of sand. Bayley saw the danger right away. At his current size, Stinky’s slime body would quickly become saturated and then buried by the sand. There was only one thing she could do.

 

“Stinky, grow back!” she yelped. But even as Stinky began to grow again, Tenille pounced.

 

“Sandshrew hit Stinky with another headbutt!” 

 

“ _ Shrew!”  _ Sandshrew growled triumphantly as it surged forward. Stinky never had a chance to dodge, he’d just reached full size as Sandshrew slammed into him with devastating force. 

 

“STINKY!” Bayley cried as her pokemon went flopping backward. She watched as he tried to raise himself, but a moment later he slumped.

 

“Grimer is unable to battle! Sandshrew wins the round!” TJ called from the sidelines, he was acting as their match official.

 

“Stinky, return!” Bayley said as she used her Pokeball to call him back. When he was safely inside she whispered: “Good work pal, I’ll take care of you in a minute.”

 

“Had enough?” Tenille called from across the field.

 

“Oh, you asked for it  now!” Bayley growled.

 

“ _ IVY!”  _ Ivysaur growled from where he’d been watching the match beside her. 

 

“Yeah, let him in, Bay!” Tenille jeered.

 

“I appreciate it buddy, but I got this…” Bayley told her Pokemon. She knew that Ivysaur, who was hyper-competitive, would not like this at all. But she would have to make it up to him. She meant to put Tenille firmly in her place.

 

“Awww, scared we’ll beat Ivysaur too?” Tenille taunted. She must have seen Ivysaur growling at this because she added: “Didn’t mean it champ, you know I love you.”

 

“You’re gonna wish you were dealing with Ivysaur in a moment!” Bayley said smugly as she threw out another Pokeball.

 

“Oh no…” Tenille said, her gusto suddenly draining from her.

 

“Oh yes!” Bayley declared as there was a huge flash and a moment later an enormous form appeared.

 

“ _ SNORRRRRRRRRRR!”  _ Snorlax rumbled.

 

“Thanks for waking up for this pal, use bodyslam!” Bayley cried. The rest of the battle went very poorly for Tenille. Her Sandshrew, despite being her newest Pokemon, was very good. But he was quickly overwhelmed by Bayley’s giant Pokemon. Tenille had then used her Electabuzz, whose powerful electric attacks should have given her an edge. It was a good theory. In practice, Bayley simply let Snorlax sleep off any damage Electabuzz did until the other Pokemon ran out of charge. One more bodyslam, and it was over.

 

“That’s so unfair,” Tenille grumbled ten minutes later as she and Bayley tended to their Pokemon. Bayley was feeding Stinky some healing herbs as she smiled.

 

“Get good girl,” she teased.

 

“Well, that was one of the most thrilling battles I’ve seen in many many weeks!” Dr. Liv Morgan said from where she sat nearby. 

 

The Pokemon researcher had invited Bayley and her friends back to her base camp. Or, more accurately, her research assistant, Sarah Logan, had. 

 

Liv and her assistant were up in the mountains studying the behavior of Onyx. She had, apparently, developed a kind of sub-sonic beacon that would attract the giant Pokemon to it. Her plan had then been to keep them pacified with food while she studied them. And this had been working until Liv had grown distracted and wandered off. Leaving Sarah alone with a beacon she couldn’t turn off and an ever-dwindling supply of food. When she’d finally run out, the Onyx had grown angry. 

 

All things considered, they’d actually come out of the incident relatively unscathed given the enormous damage a stampeding herd of Onyx could potentially cause. Bayley had lost her frying pan (and a special lunch she’d been cooking) but was otherwise unharmed. Which wasn’t to say Sarah wasn’t extremely annoyed by her boss.

 

“We’ve been up in the mountains for weeks!” Sarah called from where she was tending to the fire.

 

“Yes, yes, but before that when we were in Vermillion-” Liv started to say.

 

“Cerulean,” Sarah corrected her automatically.

 

“We saw a quite remarkable battle, It’s only too bad that we had to get to work bringing all our stuff up here…” Liv said as she waved vaguely around them at their surroundings.

 

“You mean when I had to carry it up!” Sarah groused.

 

“Hey! I helped!” Liv shot back.

 

“You carried one small bag and lost it!”

 

“But I was trying!” Liv protested. Sarah didn’t seem to think much of this answer as she just began muttering quietly.

 

“How long are you going to stay up here in the mountains, Dr. Morgan?” Bayley asked.

 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever come back down! I’m having a great time!” Liv said excitedly. Sarah snorted very loudly at this response. Bayley got the sense that Sarah did most of the actual work around camp. If Liv was having a good time it was probably because of Sarah’s efforts. Bayley had helped as much as she could, she didn’t feel comfortable not at least offering if she would be staying at Liv’s camp, and Sarah had been grateful.

 

“What about you three? Where are you headed?” Sarah asked when she finally joined the rest of the group.

 

“No idea, really. I think we’ll probably start descending soon, but we don’t really have anywhere in particular in mind,” Bayley told her. She’d talked it over with Tenille and TJ and it really seemed that neither of them much cared.

 

“Well, if you’re ever in Vermillion you’ll have to come by my lab! I’d love to show you more of my research!” Liv said eagerly.

 

“We’re in Fuschia…” Sarah muttered into Bayley’s ear as she walked past carrying some dishes. Bayley couldn’t help but grin at this, it was clear to her that Liv might be brilliant but she was also very scatterbrained. Liv seemed to know anything you might care to ask about Pokemon but Bayley had also seen her get lost within her own camp.

 

“Well, wherever you go I hope you’ll come to see us again eventually!” Live said.

 

“Me too,” Sarah added, giving one of her rare smiles. “We can take you out to the Safari Zone.”

 

“Ohhhh…” TJ said, sounding more intrigued that was usual for him. Bayley had heard of the place, of course, but it hadn’t been something she’d specifically been seeking. Now though, with the twin inducements of doing something nice for TJ and visiting Liv, it might have to become more of a priority. Bayley was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed TJ standing right in front of her until he cleared his throat. 

 

“Oh, sorry TJ...what’s up?” she asked, smiling. TJ, as usual, flushed for some reason at this but Bayley gotten used to it by now. It was just one of his weird ticks.

 

“I uh...I took a look at that watch you showed me?” 

 

Bayley had to think for a moment before she remembered what he was talking about. SHe’d completely forgotten about asking TJ to look at the Mew detector that Becky had made for her. Given the close call with the Onyx and meeting Sarah and Liv, this wasn’t surprising. But now that he’d reminded her she found all her old curiosity returning. 

 

After all, she’d been more or less face to face with Mew, and the device hadn’t gone off. Bayley had almost unlimited faith in Becky’s mechanical abilities, but she supposed it had been unfair of her to assume her friend could do this. After all, from what she’d read, it seemed that many people didn’t even think Mew existed at all. Could she really expect anyone to help in this case?

 

She was just reflecting on this when she noted that she was still looking at TJ’s stomach. Looking up with a blink she asked: “Would you like to sit?” She asked this simply to be polite but TJ still looked startled, as though the idea of sitting would never have occurred to him. Even when he sat he didn’t so very quickly, as though his legs had just given out.

 

“So...umm….” he started to say but couldn’t seem to come up with anything more. His mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. Concerned, Bayley offered him her canteen.

 

“You need some water?” she suggested as she put a reassuring hand on his arm. This didn’t seem to help as he now seemed outright panicked, but he did at least starting talking.

 

“It’s a power issue!” he blurted out, he was speaking really loudly for some reason.

 

“Uh...OK...what does that mean?” Bayley prompted. He was blushing again, which she guessed made sense if you’d temporarily lost control of your voice’s volume.

 

“The...the watch…” TJ said as he held it up “...The power supply isn’t large enough to handle everything it’s being asked to do.”

 

“Both things?” Bayley frowned, she’d thought it was only designed to detect rare or strong Pokemon.

 

“Yeah...ah...it seems to have a detector like you said. But it also has an embedded tracker in it sending constant GPS pings. That’s what is draining the battery so quickly,” TJ explained.

 

Bayley frowned, though the expression quickly turned into a small smile. Of course, it had a tracker in it. Becky was one of the sweetest and kindest people Bayley had ever met, but she was also painfully awkward. A lot like TJ in a way. Bayley knew that Becky would have meant the tracker kindly, though she wasn’t immune to a small sense of violation as well. It was quintessentially her friend's style though. Very sweet in an offputting and invasive sort of way.

 

“Can you fix it? I don’t think it’s working,” Bayley asked TJ.

 

“Umm, maybe? I’d need more parts and tools…” he said hesitantly.

 

“There’s meant to be a power plant in this area, do you think you could find the stuff there?” Tenille asked. She’d been studying TJ with an expression of private amusement up until now. 

 

“Uh...probably? But they probably won’t just let us go in ask for them,” TJ answered doubtfully. He always sounded more confident when he spoke to Tenille.

 

“On’y one way to find out, besides it’s like Bay said, we need to get down from the mountains for more supplies soon anyway, so why not go there?” Tenille asked as she pointed. Bayley followed her hand and saw, far far below them, a large brown building with many tall power lines feeding out of it. “I also hear there’s a lot of electric type Pokemon in the area, I’d like to catch some!”

 

Bayley smiled at this. Tenille had that competitive fire in her eyes once again. Bayley knew her friend would still be smarting over losing to her earlier and would want some revenge soon. But that was OK, Bayley was learning to like battling as well. And maybe she too could catch an electric type.

 

“Any objections, TJ?”

 

The boy just shook his head.

 

“Who knows…” Liv put in “...You might even see Zapdos.”


	17. Chapter 17: Back on the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and the gang are back on the road again!

“It feels like that break took forever,” Bayley said as she began taking some of her shirts down from the clothesline.

 

“Come on, Bay, we deserved a few days off,” Tenille said as she stirred the ashes of the fire.

 

“Hmmm, OK...you’re right. But four days in a row is a bit much, so maybe we should keep them more manageable in the future,” Bayley answered. She, Tenille, and TJ had indeed decided to take a few days off from their journey and as restless as she sometimes felt she knew Tenille was right. 

 

“Where are we headed? Are we going to try and catch up with Liv and Sarah?” TJ asked. He was sitting off to one side watching the two girls break down camp. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to help, or that he hadn’t offered. But, through tacit agreement, Bayley and Tenille had agreed that it was best to keep him out of the way for this part. He tended to create more work than he cleared, though always with the best of intentions.

 

He did raise a good question though. Their original plan had been to go to the nearby power plant to find some parts for TJ. He needed them to repair the device that Becky had made for Bayley. But as they’d rested, TJ had announced that he might be able to do it without the detour. As both Bayley and Tenille were eager to get back on the road, this was fine with them.

 

But what about Liv and Sarah? The two women had stayed with them for the first day of their break but then Liv Morgan, a Pokemon researcher, had announced they were going to detour back up into the mountains. 

 

“I have a good feeling about it, I think we might find some more Onyx on….that peak!” Liv had declared as she’d pointed at a mountain, seemingly at random. Bayley’s eyes had immediately flicked over to Sarah Logan, Liv’s research assistant. Just in time to see some of the oatmeal she was eating fall out of her mouth as it hung open.

 

“Excuse me?” Sarah had finally managed to ask.

 

“Yeah! It will be fun!” Liv said brightly. The Pokemon researcher was perpetually chipper and undeniably brilliant, though tragically absent-minded at times. In this case, what had slipped her mind was the fact that Sarah would be the one who would have to haul most of the gear back up the mountains they had just climbed down.

 

Sarah just grunted in a disgruntled way in response to Liv’s declaration. Bayley felt for her and so leaned over to tip some of her food into Sarah’s mess kit.

 

“Oh come on Sarah! It will be fun! It’s a beautiful Summer day!”

 

“It’s autumn, has been for a few weeks…” Sarah muttered, unheard.

 

“It’s only a few miles to walk…” Liv went on.

 

“Five, most of it uphill.”

 

“We’ve got plenty of food!”

 

“...Less every day…”

 

“It’s going to be easy!”

 

“...It never is…”

 

So it had been a very excited Liv Morgan and an annoyed Sarah that had set off later that day. Bayley liked both of them very much but she hoped Liv didn’t keep Sarah up in the mountains If she did it seemed likely that Sarah might just leave her there. 

 

“I, for one, have had enough of the mountains for a while…” Bayley finally said. She phrased it this way because she didn’t want to make it seem like she was demanding anything. 

 

“I agree!” Tenille said decisively, obviously with any concern of feeling too pushy. TJ looked back and forth between the two girls for a while before he just nodded. Bayley hid a smile at this, it would have taken something very exceptional for TJ to disagree with the two of them. 

 

“So, Lavender town?” Tenille asked Bayley a short time later when they had finished tearing down the camp. 

 

“TJ? What do you think?” Bayley asked quickly. She might have been amused earlier when he’d agreed with her and Tenille but it didnt mean Bayley had given up on one of her pet projects. She was hoping to help TJ feel a bit more confident and thus be a bit more assertive. She strongly suspected that he often just went along with what she or Tenille wanted even when he didn’t like it. Bayley, who had been raised to always stand up for what she felt was right, was hoping to impart some of this to her friend.

 

Though her self appointed task would be so much easier if she knew why the boy seemed so uncomfortable all the time.

 

But she filed this away for now. All things considered, she was feeling good. She and her friends were moving again and they had a pleasant day and a long road in front of them. There was only one thing that could make the day better. Bayley pressed one of the Pokeballs on her waist and with a popping flash, Ivysaur appeared.

 

“ _Ivy!”_ her Pokemon growled, looking around him challengingly. Bayley’s Pokemon and friend was always ready for a challenge, it was part of what she loved about him. She also knew how much it embarrassed Ivysaur when she hugged him as she did now, but she didn’t care. He was her buddy. 

 

“ _Ivysaur! Ivysaur!”_ he protested as he squirmed a bit in Bayley’s arms.

 

“Too bad, tough guy...you know you like this as much as I do,” Bayley said as she squeezed Ivysaur. 

 

“ _Ivy…”_ the Pokemon grumbled in admission, but in a way that made clear is he was still protesting. Despite this Bayley felt one of his vines wrap around her shoulders and return her pressure.

 

“You two are so adorable it’s gross, you know that?” Tenille laughed from behind Bayley.

 

“Don’t be jealous,” Bayley said as she released Ivysaur and pressed another Pokeball at her waist. With another loud pop, Pidgey appeared beside Ivysaur. 

 

“ _Pidgey!”_ the bird Pokemon cried as she looked around her. Seeing the situation she immediately shot up into the air before Bayley could hug her as well.

 

“You have to come down eventually!” Bayley shouted after her. 

 

“ _Saur…”_ Ivysaur grumbled in a disgruntled sort of way. Bayley laughed but she cut off quickly at a sound to her right. The road they were walking along was bordered to that side by a small rise that led up into a meadow. They were in a wild stretch of country that saw very few travelers, the meadow was so overgrown that much of grass was taller than Bayley herself. All this meant that it provided excellent cover for whatever was emerging from the grass now.

 

“What is it?” TJ asked from behind Bayley.

 

“Well, it’s not on Onyx at least…” Tenille said. There was at least that to be grateful for, Bayley reflected. A moment later their questions were answered.

 

“ _Chansey!”_

 

Bayley gaped at the short, round, and pink Pokemon that skipped happily down the bank. Everyone knew about Chansey’s, you saw every time you visited a Poke Center. But Bayley also knew that they were exceedingly rare in the wild. So rare that even encountering one was considered good luck.

 

“Is that a Chansey?!” TJ asked, sounding excited.

 

“Well spotted, eagle eye.” Tenille snorted.

 

“Shh!” Bayley told them. The Chansey had stopped in the middle of the road and turned to look at them.

 

“ _Chansey!”_ the Pokemon said happily as it bounced up to the group. As it came to a stop, Bayley bent forward with a smile on her face.

 

“Hello, my name is Bayley,” she said happily. She was genuinely delighted just to get the chance to see a Chansey. She had no thought of trying to capture the Pokemon, the last thing she wanted to do was disturb it in any way.  

 

“ _Chansey!”_ the Pokemon said as, to Bayley’s delighted surprise, it reached for the bright egg tucked into its pouch. With a beaming grin to match Bayley’s own, it offered the ovoid up to Bayley.

 

“For me?” Bayley asked, stunned.

 

“Oh my god, are you serious? Even Pokemon who don’t know her love her?” Tenille groused incredulously. Bayley didn’t look back, she was still gazing at the Chansey.

 

“Are you sure?” Bayley asked the Pokemon.

 

“ _Chansey!”_ the Pokemon answered with a nod. 

 

“Thank you, Chansey,” Bayley said reverently. She took the offered egg as though she were being handed a set of crown jewels. Chansey stepped back and waved its arms happily.

 

“So...what do you do with it then?” Tenille asked.

 

“They are supposed to be delicious and very nutritious,” TJ said.

 

“What?!” Bayley demanded, more sharply than she meant to thanks to her surprise. “I can’t eat it!”

 

TJ looked abashed and muttered something like “I’m sorry.”

 

“What else do you do with an egg, Bay?” Tenille asked.

 

Bayley looked scandalized. “Chansey gave me this egg! I can’t just crack it and scramble it! I’ll keep it safe!” Her mood was not improved when Tenille and TJ exchanged a glance followed by Tenille shrugging. Bayley was about to open her mouth to say something when a sudden motion caught her eye. Turning back to the road she just had time to see Chansey flitting away back into the high grass.

 

“Bye, Chansey! Thank you!” Bayley called quickly after the retreating Pokemon.

 

“ _Chansey!”_ came the reply from the high grass. Bayley beamed after the Pokemon before turning back to her friends. 

 

“That was so cool right?” she asked, eagerly.

 

“Why am I still surprised by this?” Tenille chucked as she pushed past Bayley and began walking down the road again. TJ gave her a weak smile as she set off after her.

 

“Fine! Don’t be happy for me!” Bayley called after them as she wrapped the egg protectively in her arms. She was already making plans for how she would care for the egg. It would be tricky but she would treasure this precious gift as it deserved.

 

She was still planning and musing on what she could do with the egg long term as she walked a few minutes later. Ivysaur was trailing behind her and Pidgey circling overhead. She was so engrossed that she almost missed when Ivysaur suddenly stiffened. Unfortunately, this was all the warning she got as something small and tan bowled her over. 

 

“NO!” Bayley shouted as the egg flew out of her hands. She was forced to look on in horror as the egg flew through the air and crashed to the ground. Before she could react further, the thing that had bowled her over was standing over the mess on the road, pawing at the yoke on the ground. 

 

“ _Primeape!”_ the Pokemon grunted as it tried it’s best to lap up the remains of the egg on the ground. 

 

“No…” Bayley said as she stood, her temper starting to stir. She was about to call Ivysaur to take on the Primeape when another sound drew her attention.

 

Laughter.

 

“ _Chan, Chan, Chan, Chan!”_

 

Turning to look behind her, Bayley saw a Chansey on the road. In fact, it was THE Chansey from before. Bayley’s first instinct was the rush toward the Pokemon and apologize profusely, then what was actually happening clicked for her. Chansey was laughing, transfixed with laughter, and it was pointing at Bayley.

 

“What?...” Bayley asked, confused.

 

Chansey then pointed directly Bayley and began to speak again, in a tone that was clearly mocking. Bayley was struggling to really understand what was happening. 

 

“I think...that Chansey set you up…” Tenille said, clearly trying not to laugh.

 

“What? No, Chancey’s are gentle!” Bayley stammered, just as a small glob of mud hit her in the face. She gasped as the wet mass hit her face. 

 

“ _IVY!”_ Ivysaur roared as he lept to stand beside her. But there was no answering challenge, just the sound of Chasey’s laughter retreating. Bayley just managed to clear her eyes in time to see Ivysaur charging off in that direction.

 

“Ivysaur! Stop!” Bayley called.

 

“ _Ivy?!”_ the Pokemon demanded as he turned to look over his shoulder at her.

 

“Come on back buddy…” Bayley sighed as she dropped heavily onto her backside and wiped at her face. She glared at over at Tenille who was almost helpless with laughter. TJ hurried over to her side and began swiping at Bayley’s muddy face with his hands. Unfortunately, he was so flustered that this felt more like having her face pushed repeatedly. She was about to push him away but then Bayley just sighed.

 

“It’s good to be back on the road…” she muttered.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry for the delay, friends, but life and other projects happen you know? 
> 
> I'm going to try to be more regular going forward if for no other reason than the amazing work my co-writers are putting in! We've got big collaborations coming up, so stay tuned for that?
> 
> What did everyone think of today's chapter? Bayley got herself a rival! Just, maybe not one that anyone could have expected!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter 18 - Off to Lavender Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley and her team are finally out of the mountains! But they're about to become embroiled in an even bigger adventure.

“Are you sure?” Bayley Martinez asked for the third time.

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Stop stalling!”

 

“Fine! Fine! Just…” Bayley hesitated as she held up her hands “...This seems like a really bad reason to have a Pokemon battle.”

 

“Nuh-uh!” one of the two young girls in front of her shouted in a high, almost screechy, voice.

 

“You look at us! So we gotta battle now!” the other girl insisted. They were twins and just as obviously itching for a battle.

 

“Girls, come on, that’s no reason to-

 

“CHICKEN!”

 

“BAWK BAWK BAWK!”

 

These last two remarks hadn’t come from the little girls, but off to Bayley’s right. Pursing her lips she turned to glare over at her friend Tenille Dashwood who was currently flapping her arms like they were wings.

 

“That’s not helping!” Bayley shouted at her.

 

“I’m not trying to help,” the Australian girl called back. Bayley had a retort on her tongue when the little girls took up the theme. They both began clucking loudly as she scurried around in a circle. Bayley sighed heavily.

 

“ALRIGHT!” she had to shout to be heard over the girls and Tenille. As everyone turned to look Bayley looked down to her side. “Get out there buddy,” she told Ivysaur who nodded eagerly.

 

“ _IVYSAUR!”_ he roared as she lept forward.

 

“We’ll show you!” the two little girls shouted in unison. A moment later they both pulled Pokeballs from their pockets and tossed them forward. With two loud popping whooshes, a pair of tiny Pokemon appeared on the grass in front of the girls. 

 

“ _Plusle!”_

 

_“Minun!”_

 

Bayley blinked in chagrin at the two minuscule mice-like Pokemon. As she watched, Plusle and Minun both began swaying rhythmically swaying in unison. They punctuated this by sending tiny showers of sparks in the air that resembled miniature fireworks displays.  

 

“Uh…” Bayley started to say but she got cut off.

 

“We challenged you! You get to go first!” one of the girls cut her off.

 

“You’re...you’re just set on doing this huh?” Bayley asked.

 

“YEAH!” both girls shouted. Bayley sighed again.

 

“Ivysaur? Tackle...I guess?” Bayley said uncertainly. Some of this obviously communicated itself to her Pokemon because he didn’t charge into battle with his usual gusto.

 

“ _Ivy?”_ he asked as he turned to look curiously at her.

 

Bayley covered her eyes with a hand while putting her other on her hip. “Just...don’t hurt them,” she said resignedly.

 

“ _Ivy,”_ the Pokemon said as she turned back to face his opponents. He began to canter toward Plusle and Minun then. This was much less than his usual headlong rush into combat. For their parts, the other two Pokemon had begun to chant their names in time with their swaying. They were still doing that when Ivysaur arrived.

 

Thanks to their rigorous training, Bayley’s Ivysaur had a tackle that could usually end most battles in one hit. That was under ordinary circumstances. Today, Ivysaur came to a petering halt in front of Plusle and cast a guilty look back at Bayley. Clearly, he felt uncomfortable about this whole fight. Ivysaur could never be accused of being squeamish, he lived to compete. But he liked to face off against strong opponents.

 

This felt like bullying.  

 

Bayley sighed again, knowing what her Pokemon would be thinking. “Just push them over…” she said in a tired voice. 

 

Ivysaur turned back to Plusle and Minun only to pause again. The two Pokemon had finally woken up to their peril but they hadn’t decided to fight. Instead, they were clutching each other and visibly trembling. Both had also squeezed their eyes shut in anticipation.

 

“ _Ivy?”_ Ivysaur sounded both non-plussed and a little disgusted at this. The message in his voice was very clear. Had he been speaking English it would have been something like: “Really?”

 

“COME ON PLUSLE! YOU CAN DO IT!” One of the two little girls shouted.

 

“GET HIM MINUN!” her sister added. Neither of their Pokemon seemed to be on board with this plan however as they both began to cry. 

 

“ _Ivy?!”_ Ivysaur said as he turned back to Bayley. All she could do was shrug helplessly. Unfortunately for Ivysaur, one of the two crying Pokemon behind him seemed to finally register it was in a battle. There was a crackling noise before small spark struck Bayley’s Pokemon directly in his behind. Ivysaur gave a startled jump at this.

 

“You OK, buddy?” Bayley called. Ivysaur didn’t answer her, however. He was clearly fine but also obviously very annoyed. He turned around, very slowly, to face the two smaller Pokemon. 

 

“ _Ivyyyyyyyy….”_ he rumbled deep in his chest as he glared down at Plusle and Minun. A heartbeat passed.

 

“ _PLUSLE!”_

 

_“MINUN!”_

 

The two tiny Pokemon both took off running in the opposite direction as fast as their tiny feet could carry them. Which was to say, not very quickly at all. Still, by the time their trainers realized what was happening the two Pokemon had made it a respectable distance. 

 

“You big meanie!” one of the girls shouted as she took off after her Pokemon. Bayley opened her mouth to protest this but the girls were gone by then.

 

“Boo!” Tenille shouted.

 

“Why are you booing me?!” Bayley asked her incredulously. She had to wait for her answer as her friend was almost helpless with laughter.

 

“Nice...battle?” TJ Perkins put in limply.

 

“Thank you, TJ,” Bayley said through slightly gritted teeth. She turned back to Tenille who was now actually laying in the grass, positively howling.

 

“I’m so glad that I could entertain you like this,” Bayley said with as much dignity as she could. She had her friends had just emerged onto route 8 and they’d all been very grateful for it. As entertaining as the mountains had been, it was nice to be out of them. Now they could head toward the nearest town. Visions of good food, showers, and properly clean clothes dancing in their heads.

 

“Hail the conquering hero!” Tenille laughed from where she lay. 

 

“Oh go to hell,” Bayley murmured. She hadn’t wanted the battle, yet it seemed like she’d ended up doing nothing but battle since they’d left the mountains. She didn’t know why so many people felt like merely making eye contact was some kind of challenge but others evidently did. Then there had been that one weird dude with the shorts…

 

“Sooo, are we going to Saffron or Lavender?” TJ asked. Bayley got the sense that he’d spoken up mostly to defuse any potential argument between the two girls. He often did this, though Bayley didn’t think it was necessary. She and Tenille often bickered but in a good-natured sort of way. Bayley was already coming to see the other girl as the sister she’d never had.

 

“I’ve always heard that if you want to catch a ghost Pokemon in Kanto then Lavender is the place to go!” Tenille declared as she sat up. 

 

“TJ? Any argument?” Bayley asked. TJ’s expression made it very plain that he didn’t lie the idea of ghost Pokemon at all. But Bayley asking him to make these kinds of decisions because she wanted to bolster his confidence. She was hoping now that he might argue with her and Tenille. But, sadly, not this time.

 

“Yeah...umm...Lavender sounds great…” was all he said before he busied himself with his phone. Bayley sighed.

 

“Alright, well let's get-” Tenille started to say when she was knocked over by something red.

 

“Tenille!” Bayley called as she hurried over to her friend. She found the other girl fine, though looking a bit ruffled. Next to her on the grass was a small bird Pokemon with red and white feathers. The Pokemon stood first and shook itself before turning toward Bayley. It was then that Bayley noticed that the Pokemon had a small sack clutched in one of its wings.

 

“It’s a Delibird!” Bayley said excitedly, completely forgetting Tenille in her eagerness. She’d never seen one up close before.

 

“Sure, I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Tenille grumbled.

 

“I didn’t,” Bayley told her in an overly sweet voice before turning back to the Delibird. It was then that she realized she knew this particular Pokemon. “You’re one of Liv’s Pokemon aren’t you?” she asked the Delibird.

 

“ _Delibird!”_ the Pokemon crowed happily as it dug in its sack and produced an envelope. Bayley reached for it but Delibird held up its free wing. It then produced a small clipboard and hand it to Bayley first. Baley looked down and saw that it had a delivery receipt on it.  

 

“I need to sign?” Bayley asked, somewhat bemused.

 

“ _Delibird.”_

 

“OK,” Bayley said with a shrug as she scrawled her name on the appropriate line. When she had she was given the first envelope. She was about to open when Delibird gave a very loud, fake-sounding, cough. Bayley looked back to see the Pokemon with one wing extended toward her, though it was looking studiously away. 

 

Bayley blinked for a few moments before she realized what it wanted.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Bayley said as she began patting her pockets. She didn’t find any money there but then she remembered something else. Reaching for the sack of berries she kept tied to the bottom of her pack she retrieved it and dug inside. She set the biggest and ripest one she had in Delibirds wing with a smile.

 

This seemed to satisfy the Pokemon as it downed the berry in one gulp and took off into the air without another word. Bayley watched it go before she returned her attention to the envelope which she opened. Inside were two sheets of paper. Retrieving the one in front she read:

 

_Dear Bayley,_

 

_It was so fun to travel with you and your friends! In return for all your kindness to myself and Sarah, I would like to extend an invitation to you. If you are ever in ~~Saffron~~ Fuschia City, please come to my laboratory. I’d love to show you my research! I’ve included some instructions on another sheet of paper (They are kind of complicated!).  _

 

_Liv_

 

_PS - Tell Tenille I owe her that spa day as well!_

 

Bayley smiled as she realized the correction had been made in Sarah’s handwriting. 

 

“Well now...maybe Saffron isn’t THAT bad of an idea...it’s not like anything is going to happen to the ghosts if they have to wait a little longer…” Tenille said casually.

 

“You just want the free spa day,” Bayley said as she dug for the second sheet of paper.

 

“Of course I do!”

 

Bayley didn’t answer as she’d finally succeeded in extracting the remaining sheet of paper from the envelope. It was very wrinkled but she managed to unfurl it without tearing it. Looking down she read:

 

_Do laundry (surprise Sarah, maybe borrow Clauncher)_

 

_Codify new findings_

 

_Eat lunch (don’t forget again Liv!)_

 

_Eat lunch (I know you’re going to try to skip it again!)_

 

_Contact Professor Angle about potential hypothesis_

 

_Try to cook dinner (Remember! No flamethrower!)_

 

The list continued for several more items but Bayley got the gist. She had to chuckle softly to herself at what had obviously happened. Liv had included her to-do list instead of the instructions she’d written. Tenille was still waxing eloquent about the delights awaiting her at the spa when Bayley cut her off by thrusting the list into her hands.

 

“Think you can find her lab in Saffron based on those instructions?” she asked with a wry grin. She watched Tenille look crestfallen as she realized what had happened. Her expression was so downtrodden Bayley had to laugh and put an arm around her friend.

  
“Come on, we’ll head that way and ask around,” she said. She noted as she said this that TJ seemed very grateful to not be heading to Lavender town though he didn’t say anything. They were about to set off when they had to leap back off the road. A pickup roared past them at high speed, nearly colliding with them.

 

“Oi! What the hell?!” Tenille shouted after the truck, her accent getting thicker in her anger. Bayley had been indignant too but then something clicked in her mind. She asked the question that had burst into her mind.

 

“Was that Sasha in front?” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two Bayley chapters in a timely fashion? What???????????????? You're not imagining it, friends! It's here!
> 
> But trust me...the big thing is coming up soon! So make sure to bookmark not only Bayley's story but the series as a whole so you don't miss anything.
> 
> I can't wait to hear from you down below! Tell me what you thought of today's story!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This series began as an idol throwaway comment with two of our fellow amazing writers and now look at us? Beginning our own new adventure!
> 
> This is, as of now, a planned open-ended series. I mean...could we ever forgive ourselves if we didn't get Bayley to Alola? But for now, we're starting in good old Kanto! 
> 
> I hope you like what you read, I certainly loved writing it. If you did like it please consider leaving a kudo or, even better, a comment! I love talking with readers! If you REALLY liked it, I'd be honored if you chose to leave a bookmark.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


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